TETR A  - CHORDON : 


POT    POURRI 


OF 


RHYTHMS    AND    PROSE, 


BY  WILLIAM   FURNISS. 


And  what  is  friendship,  but  a  name  ? 

A  charm  that  lulls  to  sleep  ; 
A  shade  that  follows  wealth  or  fame, 

But  leaves  the  wretch  to  weep  !" 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  NEWS  CO., 

No.  123  NASSAU  STREET. 
1874. 


'• 


Jo  •  yWy 

fas  ssaioa 

OF 

]^EW    YORK 

THIS  yoLUME  is  yVLosx  RESPECTFULLY 
PEDICATED. 


M191930 


PREFACE. 


INDIGNATION  makes  verses,  and  sometimes  poets  grow 
mad  in  writing  poetry  :  and  again  "  every  thing  is  lovely, 
and  the  goose  hangs  high."  The  muse  becomes  at  times 
very  sick,  and  in  soft  affectation  heaves  a  deep  distress. 
Long-Fellows  have  been  known  to  make  short  metres. 
We  have  heard  of  several  scriblers  who  have  died  in  the 
garret ;  while  others,  like  Ginks's  Baby,  have  been  drown 
ed  in  a  curdled  stream  of  sour  rhymes,  We  hope  for 
better  luck  in  the  future  of  this  Book  of  POT  POURRI, 
which  is  a  poem  of  a  versical  quadrature  nature  ;  and  that 
the  critics  may  desist  from  their  cruel  censure  and  forbear 
the  heavy  blows  of  their  fasces  because  of  the  author's 
attempt  to  be  witty,  which  they  have  packed  up  in  the 
four  quarts  of  new  wine  in  old  bottles. 
Ite  capille.  "  Go  it,  ye  cripples,  and  festina  lente." 
We  cannot  omit  the  expression  of  our  sincere  thanks 
for  the  aid  which  has  been  kindly  furnished  by  two  friends 
in  preparing  this  work  for  the  press.  AUTHOR 


CONTENTS. 


"  Mon  Repos,"  a  Legend  of  the  Past 9 

Lecture  on  Springs  and  Fountains * 57 

Tanning 75 

The  Creation 8l 

The  Golden  Calf;   or  the  Almighty  Dollar 93 

Report  to  the  Vanderburg  Mining  Company 117 

Charter  of  the  Vanderburg  Mining  Company 126 

A  Refrain 1 29 

On  seeing  a  Bouquet  of  Flowers 1 32 

Colonel  CTBrian T33 

Summer  Days  at  Stowe 1 38 

The  Tomb  of  the  Martyrs  at  Wallabout t 1 39 

A  Ramble  in  July H2 


"MON    REP  OS. 


of 


!AIR    BLOOMINGDALE,  the  loveliest  village  in  the  vallej 
That  runs  from  Rosendale  up  unto  Manhattanville, 
Winding  a  length  of  beautiful  indenture  in  its  alley, 

Including  the  bold  fortress  of  the  old  powder  magazine  on  Fort  Hill, 

Which  still  remains  fresh  in  the  park,  in  memory  of  the  war  of  eigh 
teen  twelve, 

And  ever  will  be  kept  sacred  on  Evacuation  Days,  at  least  by  some 
few 

Bold  old  veterans  of  the  noble  Guard,  though  by  others  laid  upon  the 
shelf, 

For  their  descendants  will   ever  bear  them   in   mind,  and  ring  the 
curfew 

Bell  over  their  graves,  for  Patriots  never  die,  and  the  grass  will  ever 
grow  green. 

The  fame  of  WASHINGTON,  the  saviour  of  our  country,  will  be  pre 
served, 

And  the   "  McGowan's  Pass''  be  visited,  and  be  very  well  kept  up, 
clean, 

By  all  who  still  respect  the  ancients,  for  mummies  have  been  well  con 
served. 


I0  "MONREPOS." 

A  wooden  crest  of  mound  crowns  the  upland  bluff,  above  Striker's  Bay, 
Where   the   noble   Hudson,  decked   with   the   white   canvas   sails  of 

schooners,  is  oft  seen 

From  my  bay  windows,  while  my  favorite  hounds  are  at  their  play, 
And  the  beds  of  flowers,  grouped  in  banks  of  red,  within  a  marginal 

of  green, 

Lying  underneath  the  thorn,  locust  trees  stand  now  deprived  of  leaves, 
For  the  clear  cold  of  Autumn,  with  November  and  blowing  wind, 
Have  keenly  stripped  the  chestnut  trees,  and  cast  their  nuts  out  of 

their  coaty  rind, 

Howling  with  the  tempestuous  roar  of  rushing  force,  to  much  remind 
Of  the  distant  throbbings  of  the  ocean,  as  it  swells  along  the  naked 

coast, 
With  impulse  breaking  in  white  capped  spray  against  the  bolder  rocks 

behind, 

And  shocks  the  breathless  air  with  empty  vapory  frost-like  ghost, 
And  flies  away  like  phantom  shades,  that  mock  the  bubbles  breaking, 
Like  ravings  of  the  deep  despair  which  beats  out  on  the  seas, 
And  heaves  with  throbs  of  boisterous  shrieks,  partaking 
Of  those  wails,  and  murmurs  that  move  the  heart  in  fantasies 
That  strike  upon  the  soul  with  echoes  from  the  forest  notes. 
In  the  deep  bosom  of  the  mountain's  hidden  lakes, 
When  light  accords  with  music  through  the  gorges  floats, 
To  burst,  to  beat  in  sounds  of  rapture,  of  which  the  realms  partake. 
Thus  lands  and  seas  in  one  communion  join  to  prove 
That  the  God  of  Nature  over  all  is  the  master  at  the  helm, 
And  guides  all  creatures  from  His  hands  by  love  ; 
That  in  all  his  purposes  there  will  be  forever  room 
To  make  provision  for  the  human  race  and  beasts, 
If  they  submit  in  sweet  submission  to  that  heavenly  boon 
Which  holds  as  well  in  great  things  as  in  the  least. 


«MON  REPOSE  n 

Slowly  glide  the  white  -canvas -spread  sails  of  the  sloops  on  the  river  ; 
From  the  banks  I  sit  to  watch  these  graceful  moving  barks— 
The  only  poetical  things  that  Miss  Martineau  chose  to  sec  in  her 
Last  book  on  young  America,  written,  perhaps,  for  the  sake  of  some 

English  sharks. 

Silently  they  flit  across  the  bosom  of  the  majestic  water's  silver, 
Like  snow  that  falls  awhile  to  be  seen,  then  disappears  as  soon, 
As  any  apparition,  does  that,  disappears  so  suddenly, 
As  when  a  cloud  is  seen,  floating  light  across  the  silver  moon  ; 
And  the  wild  winds  hurl  their  thin  vapory  forms  as  they  are  scudding  by 
These  flock  in  numbers  o'er  the  rolling,  heaving  tide-waters  for  gain, 
Like  the  birds  that  rush  southward  in  the  fall,  to  escape  the  winter 

weather ; 

So  float  away  towards  the  ocean-bound,  for  charter  to  obtain, 
Or  further  bound,  they  wait  awhile  to  shape  their  course  on  together. 
And   from  the   timbers  in  the  forest  whence  they  were  first  cut  out 

from  their  rinds, 

By  the  axes  of  the  cutters,  rent  from  the  hills  at  the  mountain  sides, 
These  water-logs  in  wooden  frames  are  but  passengers  on  the  winds, 
To  bear  them  to  the  goals  for  gain,  where  profit  or  loss  abides. 
They  strike  our  fancies  while  we  view  their  handsome  forms, 
Like  the  lithe  images  of  some  hidden  mysteries  in  birth, 
Torn,  orphan'd  striped  shapes  of  timbers  from  the  mountain's  oaken 

arms, 
Which  sky,   and  whispering  winds  through  water  bring  forth  from 

earth, 

A  full  quartette  of  those  wonderful  works  in  man's  human  nature, 
That  do  unfold  the  great  resources  of  the  Creator's  master  mind, 
That  sprang  at  first  from  out  the  grand  chaotic  creature  ; 
That  leaves  the  "  Unknown  Invisible"  of  the   spirit  far  away  behind, 
And  makes  us  to  reflect  that  all  that  is  revealed  to  mankind, 


12  "MON  REPOS." 

Is  but  the  image  of  the  GOD  "our  Father,  the  great  I  am,"  His  word 

The  Immortal  bursting  from  the  spontaneous  mortal  hind, 

Whose  world  is  an  oyster  which  he  must  open  with  his  sword. 

The  truth  was  well  expressed  by  old  Saint  Denis  of  Spain  : 

"That  it  was  easy  enough  to  walk  all  round  that  ancient  country 

With  his  head  under  his  arm  and  come  safely  back  again  ;'' 

But   the  only  trouble  was,  the   first  fact  that  stood  in  the  way,  and 

always  so  contrary, 
Is   the  same  not  patent  in  the  present  clay   to  him  who  courts  the 

muses, 

Whose  aim  is  only  to  amuse  the  people  by  his  funny  rhymes, 
May  he  not  have  to  bite  his  finger-nails,  when  he  finds  that  the  public 

refuses, 
And  turn  in  sadness  back  when  they  write  him  down  as  "  behind  the 

times." 

But  to  wake  up  in  sentiment :  for  a  better  subject  let  us  now  begin  with 
A  verse  from  ancient,  worthy  Keble,  one  of  Old  England's  saints, 
And  if  0112  cannot  succeed  in  making  some  folks  grin, 
Then  all  other  lack  of  due  success  unto  that  end  will  be  a  want  of 

paints, 

"  Old  friends,  old  scenes  will  lovlier  be, 
As  more  of  heaven  in  each  we  see  ; 
Some  softening  gleam  of  love    and  prayer, 
Shall  dawn  on  every  cross  and  care." 

Across  the  river  on  the  opposite  banks  the  Palisades  in  walls, 
Throw  up  their  bold  and  stony  sides  in  gneiss  or  granite  stone, 
While  villages  adorn,  the  crowning  heights  with  waterfalls 
That  rush  in  madness  headlong,  wild  in  musical  tones, 
There  TiJly  Tudlum  and  her  well  wooded  banks  on  one  side 
Look  over  to  the  long  lines  of  meadows  near  the  Pleasant  Valley ; 
And  not  far  off  that  the  lofty  building  of  the  Germans  hide, 


"MON  REPOS."  13 

The  spot  called  Guttenberg,  from  good  lager  when  drank  on  occa 

sional  rally. 

Far  off  on  distant  heights  stands  historic  old  Fort  Lee, 
Recalling  movements  of  George  Washington  and  of  memory's  told  ; 
He  was  a  noble  patriot'  and  the  Father  of  his  Country, 
While  later  writers  state  his  boyish  son  was  rather  sold, 
For  neither  the  story  of  the  hatchet  nor  of  the  original  peachy  cree 
Holds  any  truth  to  carry  its  own  weight  in  virgin  gold  ; 
And  this,  like  the  "  blarney  stone"  of  the  dear  old  Pilgrim's  rock, 
Or  Pocahontas,  John  Smith's  Indian  gal,  Was  a  very  bold 
Draft  on  the  imagination  for  the  real  facts  to  shock. 
The  Palisades  in  graceful  lines  of  basaltic  cliffs  extends 
Upward  so  far  as  The  Tappan-zee,  that  noble  bay -like  sheet  of  water 
That  reaches  beyond  the  ridge  of  Piermont,  up  to  Nyack's  bend, 
Which  checks  our  limit  at  the  rocky  hook  as  the  halter, 
Thence  swings  in  revolutions  of  the  rounding  sweeping  tide 
That  throws  the  channels  back  down  to  the  lowest  bluff. 
lust  at  that  point  of  the  Elysian  Fields,  near  Hoboken's  pride 
For  all  the  Sunday  pastimes,  sports,  for  peoples'  frolics  ; 
Nor  yet  forget  the  celebrated  Stevens  iron-clad  steam  battery, 
That  heavy  plated  monster,  armed  with  mailed  prows  and  barbs  of 

steel, 

So  in  preparation  that  in  times  of  peace  to  sharpen  up  our  armory. 
To  be  ready  when  from  all  our  enemies  of  foreign  parts  we  an  attack 

should  feel 

That  the  bold  eagle  of  the  American  standard  on  the  ascutcheont 
With  its  stars  and  stripes  was  not  a  "bird  of  brag  and  boast," 
'But  when  it  gets  its  feathers  up,  and  fixed  ammunition, 
It  was  not  afraid  of  Frenchmen  or  any  British  coast. 
Thus  much  for  buncombe  and  the  inland  scenery, 
That  lies  behind  the  hills  of  Jersey  flats  and  the  lines  of  fields 


I4  "MON  REPOS." 

That  runs  among  the  wild  meadows  and  salt  marshes   up  to  Haver- 
straw. 

Now  we  will  come  back  to  scenes  of  graver  note  and  worth  in  yields, 
To  speak  of  still  life  lying  near  to  the  centre  of  our  own  line, 
That  runs  along  the  serpentine  boulevard,   this  overturning  of  the 

earth's  old  jaws, 

That  sprang  from  out  the  canny  brains  of  men's  red  tape  and  twine, 
Which,  from  meandering  all  along  Broadway,  streatches  up  to  Harlem, 
And  if  the  river  had  not  intervened  would  not  have  stopped  at  them, 
There's  no  knowing  where,  but  for  the  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Carman, 
For  these  engineers  of  modern  times  beat  the  Indian  chiefs  at  game 

of  ball  ; 

They  fight  to  scalp  a  man  because  the  big  contractors  cheat  them, 
And  send   their  enemies   without  any  scalps  on   head   to  Arabia   the 

blessed. 

But  for  these  nobby  kings  of  Satan  or  Satelites  of  Saturn,  but  some 
thing  of  a  dead  beat, 

For  old  Nick  does  lead  them,  and  the  sovereign  of  the  daily  presses. 
The  nearer  the  church   is  very  apt  to  prove  in  them  to  be  nearer  the 

devil, 
Says  a  proverb  ;  so  we  now  turn  to  the  churches  that  stand. 

Between  that  church  called  Saint  Timothy,  the  first  to  fight  evil, 
That  this  was  first  started  in  the  lowest  construction,  like  a  caboora 

on  the  land, 

And  was  preached  in  a  sort  of  log-cabin  by  texts  from  one  Tracy, 
A  very  nice  fellow,  who  had  a  young  Ambrose  to  help  him, 
With  some  clever  old  deacons,  like  Cushman  and  Striker  the  racy, 
f  o  intone  with  the  people  from  prayer-book  or  join  in  the  hymn. 


"MON  REPOS."  15 

Notwithstanding  their  efforts,  this  young  priest  did  die  on  one  day 
From  consumption,    we  learn  from  his  parishioners  and   relatives 

dear  ; 

But  we  fear,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  he  was  love-sick,  they  say, 
For  we  much  fear  that  most  divinity  students  think  too  much  of  the 

fair  ; 
What  from  views  of  themselves  in  the  glass  and  carefully  parting  their 

hair, 

They  have  always  one  eye  for  the  ladies  and  another  for  prayer. 
We  have  known  a  few  who  were  dandies  and  rather  given  to  dress, 
And  could  tell  some  tales  out  of  school  of  their  pranks  in  distress, 
liut  it  is  charity  to  cover  these  neophytes  with  a  cloak  of  sweet  love, 
For  I  am  sure  the  good  angel  above  will  wipe  out  such  a  sin  with 

a  blot ; 

For  which  read  in  St  Paul,  that  all  virtues  are  served  up  to  prove 
That  old  clothes  and  burned  bodies  of  self,  he  cared  not  a  jot, 
Then  turn  over  and  mend,  ye  white-chokered  priests,  with  your  bows, 
In  low  genuflections  and  loud  hell-sounding  frightful  alarms, 
And  pound  not  your  pulpits  with  anathema  blows. 
For  all  such  predications,  like  the  thunder,  works  surely  no  harm, 
It  is  the  lightning  that  strikes,  which  the  wise  man  shuns  ; 
It  is  the  silent  still  spirit  of  Faith,  Prayer,  and  Trust, 
That  moves  like  the  whispering  of  the  sweet  smiles  of  the  sun ; 
Like  the  dews  of  the  morning  that  form  jewels  from  dust, 
And  sparkle    like  diamonds  with  prismatic  hues  of  colors, 
Like  our  alms,  which  are  the  wings  to  lift  up  our  prayers 
To  Heaven,  who  hears  them  in  the  blue  silent  hours, 
For  to  relieve  our  burthens  and  drive  away  all  our  fears. 


l6  "MONREPOS." 


Saint  Utah's  C|)unlj. 

THIS  sweet  thought  we  stole  on  a  bright  Sunday  morning. 

The  time,  it  was  Christmas,  when  the  girls  they  were  dressing 

The  fount  at  St.  Mary's,  with  gay  flowers  adorning 

The  altar  of  the  church,  and  so  tenderly  caressing  ; 

The  noble  old  pastor,  who  has  held  up  this  church, 

And  stood  manfully  up  to  proclaim  our  salvation 

From  sin  and  destruction,  without  any  terrible  lurch. 

In  the  vessel  of  sacrifice  and  of  blood  shed  for  the  nation, 

And  through  Winter  and  Summer  he  always  was  found, 

Reading  and  praying  and  preaching  from  the  Gospel, 

The  good  tidings  of  blessing  for  the  sinners  all  round— 

For  he  cared  for  the  poor  and  the  rich  man  as  well. 

This  doctor  of  souls  was  quite  learned  in  geology, 

For  he  published  a  book  on  "  the  recentness  of  creation  ;" 

But  the  writing  of  which  did  not  disturb  his  theology, 

For  it  proved  that  old  Adam  was  the  sole  germ-sprout  of  the  race  ; 

And  all  the  rest  of  mankind,  wherever  a  man  has  been  found, 

Was  only  a  mixture  of  colors,  black,  red  and  white,  if  you  please. 

And  development,  like  mushrooms  or  truffles,   sprang  out  from  t 

ground, 

Was  the  mere  offshoot  of  nature  that  was  fanned  by  the  breeze. 
What  with  Huxley's  and  Darwin's,  and  other  wise  savants, 
Who  make  men  from  monkies  by  the  notion  that  looks  at  their  tails. 
For  such  we  sent  them  to  look  at  the  wiser  sand-black  ants, 
Or  the  oysters  and  sea  nautilus,  whose  wings  are  their  sails  ; 
Such  nincompoops  will  never  set  the  North  River  on  fire, 
Nor  by  "spontaneous  combustion  »  draw  off  the  white  river  Nile. 


"MONREPOS."  17 

Whatever  progress  science  gains  by  fisticuffs  or  satire 

Will  surely  in  the  end  from  the  wise  provoke  their  smile, 

A  middle  theme  now  sends  to  change  the  course  of  our  rhymes. 


Cjwtcjj. 


FOR  shelter  and  retreat  out  the  two  former  shrines  or  temples  of  fame, 

Midway  between  Saint  Timothy  and  Saint  Mary's  sacred  limes, 

Lies  boldly,  seeking  notice  from  its  fame  has  Saint  Michael's  name. 

Whose  "Legend  of  the  Dragon"  told  about  its  fierce  onslaught, 

And  victory  claim'd  from  fighting  with  his  majesty  old  Nick. 

He  fairly  whipped  the  monster  whom  he  stoutly  fought, 

And  from  the  battle-field  discharged  him  with  a  kick. 

Now  good  Saint  Michael's  sanctuary  has  settled  down  in  peace, 

The  present  pastor  of  this  shepherd's  fold  is  shrewd  and  bold. 

The   founder  was  since  a    "  Richmond  left  the  field  and  gathered 

fleece  " 

From  off  the  backs  of  sheep  in  former  times,  we  are  told  ; 
Until  one  bright  night  the  steeple  caught  on  fire, 

And  to  the  surprise  of  all  the  people,  as  they  stood  aghast  and  looked, 
That  there  was  scarcely  a  fragment  left  behind  of  the  old  spire, 
That  loss  of  the  wooden  framework  arose  from  rusty  stovepipe's  heat. 
Was  but  a  gain,  for  he  who  followed  next  was  born  to  preach, 
When  a  bran  new  building  from  the  ashes  quickly  rose  in  form  sc 

neat 

That  from  the  gothic  shrine  he  could  so  much  better  teach 
His  gathered  people  in  the  congregation  which  he  had  to  meet 
The  churchyard  was  not  burned  nor  the  soules  that  lie  beneath, 
In  monumental  tombs  or  graves  covered  with  the  green  swards, 


,8  "MONXEPOS." 

For  these  old  parishioners  had  simply  died  from  want  of  breath, 

And  in  the  resurrection  hour  will  all  have  their  due  rewards  ; 

We  will  sing  the  song  then  of  the  bell  that  tolled  so  well, 

For  the  hours  of  service  as  well  as  prayers  within  the  tower, 

For  "  the  church  bells  beyond  the  stars  heard,  the  souls  blood  ; 

"  The  land  of  spices  ;  something  understood, 

Sounding  with  merry  peals  and  of  gladness  for  the  bride  so  well, 

As  for  the  sad  hour  of  the  funerals  passing  power. 

This  edifice  although  built  of  wood  was  sprung  with  groined  arches 

In  style  ecclesiastic  and  lecturn  of  the  proper  antique  style, 

With  windows  opened  towards  the  several  aisles  as  stiff  as  starch. 

Lighted  with  the  chandeliers  that  are  notched  where  the  -gas  displaces 

oil. 

So  that  the  order  is  quite  quaint,  to  suit  the  rubric  of  the  prayer-book, 
With  bas-relief  and  other  rare  devices  that  please  the  people, 
Who  worship  at  their  ease,  although  they  should  not  look 
Up  to  the  Dutch  shaped  ram-like  expounder,  that  tops  the  steeple, 
The  only  exception  to  the  general  rule  as  to  its  architectural  shape. 
Say  nothing  of  the  queer  addition,  in  a  sort  of  student's  telescope, 
That  looks  as  if  the  vestry  had  a  quarrel  about   the  money  how  to 

scrape, 

And  had  to  fill  the  measure  by  the  piece  before  they  broke. 
But  what's  the  difference  in  these  revolutionary  times. 
When  overturning  everything  as  the  new  order  of  the  day 
With  sects  that  vary  in  their  divers  creeds,  and  whims, 
And  bury  faith  in  superstructure  works  of  potter's  clay, 
Let  us  turn  aside  and  see  the  fix  they  are  in  against  sin 
And  all  the  tricks  that  Satan  has  to  play,  in  secret  hide 
Behind  the  forms  of  Pharisaic  pride  and  gilder's  foil  of  tin. 
Surely  vanities  were  not  intended  for  any  church's  pride, 
When  great  Isaiah  boldly  warns  "  That  without  money's /m/, 


"MONREPOSr 

Truly  the  LORD  OUR  GOD  did  never  intend  such  salvation  surely 

We  were  to  drink  of  the  waters  that  were  sweet  and  nice, 

In  order  that  the  poor  folks  might  hear  the  Gospel  purely. 

But  prophets  preach,  the  pulpits  loud  proclaim 

That  all  the  Scriptures  are  the  birth-right  of  the  poor, 

So  when  the  pews  are  paid  for,  this  upsets  their  teaching, 

For  which  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  opened  the  door, 

That  all  the  sly  doctors  who  climb  over  the  fence  were  peaching ; 

He  called  them  robbers  who  did  fleece  the  sheep 

And  sold  the  wool  from  off  their  backs  to  sell 

The  skins  as  merchants  do  who  filthy  lucre  keep. 

Sheltered  or  sandwiched  between  two  others,  Saint  Michael  stands, 


To  hold  the  sheltering  arms,  the  product  of  the  good  priest, 

Who  sacrificed  his  homestead  to  make  an  asylum  for  those  infants, 

Who  lacked  a  cover  for  this  charity  exclusive  of  others>  as  a  spot  to  rest. 

It  was  named  by  a  conclave  of  some  clever  kind  of  thinkers 

Who  borrowed  the  thought  by  suggestion  from  George  Law's  shelter 

cars 
On   the  Eighth  Avenue  horse  railroad,  there  were  shelters  sort  of 

blinkers 

To  shield  the  passengers  who  were  waiting  and  to  warm  their  paws 
In  Winter  time,  when  the  snows  fall  and  the  winds  were  blinding 
Their  eyes,  are  likely  to  freeze  their  feet  in  the  wet  and  cold, 
And  when  you  think  of  the  analogy  between  cars  and  arms  so  finding 
It  was  a  spark  of  divinity  for  these  wiseacres  to  strike  before  it  was 

sold, 
And  the  result  was  that  the  charitable  building  was  left  and  selected 

out 


20  "  MON  REPOSE 

As  a  holy  house  for  the  innocents,  whose  mother  did  not  know  much 

about  their  birth 
Or,  in  other  terms,  it  was  a  truth,  that  the  parents  could  not  keep  them 

about, 
The  fact  is  these  infants,  when  they  are  orphans,  are  a  bother  on  the 

earth. 

The  truth  is  sad  when  we  all  know  how  German  Miiller 
Built  three  goodly  mansions  all  through  the  aid  of  prayer, 
And  when  he  began  himself  he  was  poor  as  any  moth  miller, 
But  his  heavenly  father  heard  him  through  the  midnight  air, 
And  the  same  was  done  by  Baptist  Knapp,  a  simple  man  of  faith, 
Who  dared  to  stand  on  evidence  in  sincere  trust  and  belief, 
And  took  for  text  that  Jesus  was  the  guarantor  of  all  the  words  he 

saith, 
And   those   Christians   who   follow   their   Master   are    sure   to    find 

relief, 

In  these  very  words,  it  is  written,  "  Open  thy  mouth  wide, 
And  I  will  burst  the  gates  of  heaven  to  send  abundant  blessings 
Upon  thy  stores  and  thy  family  that  shall  rush  in  like  the  tide," 
And  the  graces  that  will  follow  will  be  ever  more  refreshing, 
For  the  humble  shall  be  exalted  when  downfall  goes  with  pride, 
For  Jesus  is  the  Master,  and  heaven  and  earth  are  his  own, 
And  he  never  will  forsake  the  earnest  petitioner  on  his  knees, 
For  the  Pharisee  is  a  lesson  and  the  Publican  was  better  known, 
And  the  good  Lord  is  the  giver,  and  bestows  on  whom  he  pleases 
A  further  thought  was  just  brought  before  the  mindful  muse, 
That  it  was  not  the  Poet's  only  object  to  astound  the  world 
With  studies  of  the  churches,  and  book  fill  the  Cloister  of  the  Re 
cluse, 

And  even  fatted  chickens  only  live  to  have  their  necks  twirled. 
But  we  forgot  to  mention  two  other  temples  on  the  main 


MONREPOS."  21 

ic  and  fWhottist. 

Road,  and  both  in  Bloomingdale,  the  one  run  by  Father  Brennan, 
A  Romish  priest  that  came  from  Port  Jervis,  not  from  old  Spain. 
A  venerable  clever  man,  we  know,  if  not,  ask  Patrick  Brennan. 
His  post  of  duty  is  at  the  "  Holy  Church  of  Jesus  "  sure. 
And,  faith,  I  know  it  is  so  called,  says  Jimmy  Ryan,  his  dark. 
The  other  edifice,  that  has  a  Methodist  to  care,  is  not  far  from  this 

holy  priest's  cure, 

Stands  on  the  hill,  just  back  of  the  public  school,  near  the  park. 
St.   Luke's,   the   Methodist   Episcopal,   it  is  called  by  Marks,   the 

preacher's  name, 

And  Non-Conformists  is  the  style  of  all  the  teachers  of  this  mode 
Of  worship,  for  its  all  the  same  since  Abram's  and  David's  fame, 
The  secret  talismanic  key  for  entrance  is  "  Let  it  be  a  la  mode.1' 
So  long  as  it  is  the  fashion  for  the  rich  to  go  to  church, 
And  ritual  is  all  the  habit,  and  the  style  of  motley  wear, 
The  poor  man  must  be  hustled  out  with  a  snickering  lurch 
And  has  to  do  his  praying  and  his  preaching  in  the  open  air, 
To  that  God  the  Lord  of  earth  and  sky  and  water  also, 
The  Fermantal  of  the  Triune  Deity  is  doubtless  three. 
There  will  certainly  no  sex  or  sects  be  ever  found  in  heaven  we  know, 
For  there  cannot  possibly  be  one  God  for  you,  another  for  me. 
That  would  be  an  awful  catastrophe  for  all  mankind, 
And  the  unkindest  cut  in  any  grand  division, 
To  leave  all  the  gentle  sheep  in  black  and  all  the  goats  behind, 
Such  chaos  would  upset  the  Mosaic  code  and  call  for  a  re-vision. 


Pass  on  to  things  unattempted  yet  in  prose  or  verse  do  seem 
To  follow  like  a  natural  course  of  sprouts  in  the  garden. 


22  "  MON  REPOSE 

To  speak  now  of  the  old  past  and  the  ring  of  boxwood  green, 
Laid  out  in  regular  plains  not  unlike  the  Plains  of  Arden, 
In  the  ancient  times  when  the  Roger  family  resided  here  in  glory, 
So  respected  for  their  solid  virtues  and  their  Knickerbocker  pride, 
When  they  did  drive  to  church  in  their  four-in-hand,  the  old  story. 
Since  that  day's  now  past,  but  their  descendants  do  not  ride. 
Those  were  times  when  Bloomingdale  was  quite  like  country, 
And  "  King's  Bridge"  highway  road  ran  like  a  crooked  snake 
Somewhat  serpentine  in  form  like  the  pond  in  Lake  Glenmary. 
Then  the  traveler  to  Spyten  Duyvel  did  not  ever  need  to  quake, 
In  fear  of  hidden  robbers  by  the  wayside  with  his  cocked  pistol, 
For  all  were  rather  poor  and  had  such  honesty  of  look 
That  no  one  thought  his  neighbor  was  hiding  behind  an  ugly  thistle  ; 
Or  that  a  Will  o'  the  Wisp  of  a  ghost  or  a  jack  o'  lantern  light  in  a 

brook, 
To  shock  the  children  in  this  innocent  age  by  a  falcon's  frightful 

claws  ; 

As  in  these  later  days  of  modern  ways  we  are  left  in  Sleepy  Hollow. 
From  what  cause  it  arose  except  from  some  change  of  laws, 
Like  the  Draconic  code  of  ancient  kings  that  melt  away  like  tallow. 
Sure  these  conversions  turn  in  the  history  of  some  peoples'  lives, 
Are  just  as  variable  as  the  sun-flowers  in  their  change  of  lines, 
Although  turning  always  with  the  sunshine  it  still  survives, 
Spite  of  head  that  bends  all  round  as  the  orb  of  day  declines. 
These,  like  our  watches,  for  everyone  claims  that  his  own  self 
Particular  time-piece  keeps  the  time  and  is  the  very  best, 
And  for  the  passing  hour,  boasts  when  he  speaks  for  no  one  else, 
For  he  deems  that  his  alone  is  right,  and  wrong  are  all  the  rest. 
For  a  man  when  convinced  against  his  own  stubborn  will, 
Will  always  remain  of  his  own  opinion  still. 


"MONREPOSr  23 

For  it  will  be  hard  to  kick  against  the  thorny  pricks, 

As  it  ever  was  for  a  poor  jackass  to  kick  over  a  pile  of  bricks. 


f  ottw  of 


The  churches  banquet  angels  age, 

God's  breath  in  man  returning  to  his  birth, 

The  soul  in  paraphrase,  the  heart  in  pilgrimage, 

The  Christian's  plumet  sounding  heaven  and  earth  ; 

George  Herbert 

That  power  of  prayer  was  given  to  Miiller  for  him  to  intercede 
With  God  to  grant  his  wish,  and  bring  a  blessing  with  it. 
It  was  the  voice  of  God  by  angels  listening  to  his  sigh  in  need, 
And  heard  was  the  word  of  this  simple-minded  man,  in  spirit 
He  asked  his  father  for  daily  food,  and  it  was  given  indeed, 
And  heaven  was  opened  as  a  door  for  what  he  asked, 
For  others,  not  himself  alone  ;  at  first  he  trembled  on  his  knees, 
And  bending  low  laid  his  earnest  supplication  ;  he  was  not  tasked, 
For  our  good  Father  of  all  the  human  kind  is  truly  great, 
And  grand  the  store -house  where  he  garners  up  the  food 
That  not  intended  wholly  for  the  sad  beggars  at  the  gate 
Of  the  rich  man,  nor  the  hovel  of  the  poor  man,  however  rude. 
He  gives  because  the  sinner's  heart  was  faint  and  broken 
With  sufferings,  and  his  tears  and  grief  are  as  incense  sent 
From  golden  censors  waived  in  viols  as  penitential  tokens, 
That  all  we  have  on  earth  was  by  heaven  only  lent 
In  trust  for  us  to  keep  well  garnished  up  with  care, 
That  in  return  as  sacrifice  by  faithful  use  denote 
Our  gratitude  for  favors  granted  through  our  prayers, 
For  "  alms  are  the  wings  that  bear  our  wishes  to  float 
Towards  heaven,  who  fosters  all  our  thoughts  serene. 


24  "  MON  REPOSr 

If  the  donation  is  a  meek  oblation  and  sincere  in  truth, 

So  much  the  more  is  the  seeker's  wants  requited  if  the  gift  is  clean 

And  the  heart  beats  in  unison  with  love  as  in  the  vows  of  youth. 

She  (Bartons. 

What   beauties    lie  beneath    the   well-sodded  beds   in   the   garden 

walks, 

Dallying  amid  delightful  banks  of  plants  and  flowers  we  view 
The  dark  circle   of  the  box-hedges  that  bound  the  rings  in  rigid 

stalks, 

Then  from  the  arbor  turn  at  every  point  around  the  beds  so  new, 
As  if  the  hand  had  made  a  paradise  on  this  earth  below, 
Where  all  that  maiden's  care  and  love  of  culture  could  contrive, 
Was  done  to  please  the  eye  or  charm  the  heart  in  joyous  show, 
And  fascinate  so  well  as  to  rivet  the  soul  in  this  sweet  life. 
What  gushing  violets  and  bunches  of  daisies  lift  up  their  head 
To  fill  the  air  with  such  odorous  perfumed  incense  from  the  flowers, 
We  smell  the  fragrant  jessamine  and  orange  blossoms  as  we  tread 
And  while  the  time  in  counting  all  these  beauties  by  the  hours, 
As  if  they  were  all  jewels  in  the  crown  that  strew  our  pathway  to  the 

grave. 
For  I   remember  the  fair  Oceana,  in  thy  love  that  decked  these 

arbors, 

Thy  bright  image  still  haunts  the  memory  of  this  hallowed  spot, 
Thy  voice,  tho'  silent,  beats  in  the  swellings  of  a  hidden  pulse, 
And  thy  presence  sits  beside  me  while  thou  art  not  forgot. 
It  lingers  round  the  tulip-buds  and  wreaths  of  glory  crowning  us 
With  touches  of  a  gentle  hand  that  moves  our  soul,  as  friend 
To  friend  in  heart  responds,  as  face  to  face  in  water  does. 
And  we  now  wait  long  to  fill  thy  place  in  the  house  of  sweet  repose, 


"MONREPOS?  25 

And  leaving  all  the  meaner  things  behind  to  seek  their  real  home, 

In  the  mansion  of  the  blessed,  fresh  beauties  will  disclose. 

How  all  the  rainbow  colors  that  are  seen  in  shadows  her*.. 

Will  crown  the  glories  of  the  endless  distant  shore. 

And  all  the  fantasies  will  be  changed  to  substance  there. 

That  Paradise  is  not  far  off  to  those  that  love  the  good, 

That  all  thy  fellow-men  are  angels  sent  from  above, 

That  He  who  is  all  that  is  beautiful  and  true,  alone  could 

Change    all   thy  sweet   songs  of  melody  here  to  psalms  of  eternal 

praise, 

As  well  he  might  create  a  new  form  of  graceful  creature, 
And  out  of  the  mouldy  dust  another  image  of  Jehovah  raise. 
For  we  will  live  forever  and  partake  of  a  glorified  future. 
Wherever  the  flowers  were  planted  the  alleys  were  overgrown 
By  noble  forest  trees,  that  hung  their  graceful  crowns  with  foliage, 
So  thick  as  not  to  shade  the  lovely  green  of  the  borderings  sown 
With  ranks  of  everlasting  forms  of  grace  and  noble  age. 
Among  these  walks  the  old  man,  like  a  nabob  of  the  Indies, 
Strove  to  while  away  the  time  until  old  age  crept  on, 
By  cherishing  the  homestead  where  he  was  born  besides, 
The  greenhouse  with  the  oranges  and  lemon  trees  to  crown, 
The  patrimony  of  his  fathers  with  his  genial  tastes  of  one 
Whose  pride  was  to  improve  and  decorate  the  blooming  dawn, 
And  foster  with  great  care  the  treasures  which  not  alone 
Embellished  all  the  landscape  from  late  to  early  dawn. 
The  aged  veteran  strode  along  and  view'd  the  groves  o'er  head, 
The  branching  limbs  of  grand  primeval  stalking  forms 
Of  oaks  and  walnuts,  locust,  beech,  and  thorn-trees,  indeed, 
And  every  variety  of  forest  charm  that  man  could  farm. 
This  was  a  Paradise  indeed,  with  pond  and  gold  fishes, 
Playing  within  the  marble  basin's  round  rim  like  a  bowl, 


26  "MO.VXEPOS.' 

Such  as  old  Pliny  would  have  chosen  among  his  dishes, 

With  peacocks  with  brilliant  eyes  and  iris  shaded  tails, 

The  bird  that  Juno  loved,  that  ancient  heathen  goddess, 

Who  by  the  side  of  Jupiter,  her  husband,  ever  stood, 

And  ranked  as  Queen  of  Beauty,  with  her  golden  tresses  ; 

And,  altogether,  the  whole  mansions,  with  the  primates  good, 

Were  an  assemblage  of  such  uncommon  attraction, 

That  if  all  the  objects  that  could  be  brought  together  would 

Form  in  one  joint  grand  mass  a  compound  of  hospitality  without 

detraction, 

Not  to  be  found  on  any  other  point  this  side  of  Hudson  River, 
For  without  exception,  having  travelled  far  and  near, 
The  rest  of  all  this  planet  were  not  really  worth  a.  stiver. 
There  was  the  resting  place  for  the  loved  and  dear, 
Beyond  the  pleasure  ground,  standing  erect  in  front  of  all 
These  garden  prospects,  is  the  large  gold-fish  pond. 
It  stands  under  the  shadow  of  the  ancient  groves  of  tall 
And  noble   elm    trees,   that   bear    a    lofty   mien   above    the    entire 

grounds. 

What  with  the  ancient  chairs  outside,  and  library  of  books 
That  stood  within  the  cases  and  the  stock  of  valuable  fixtures, 
Including  branching  deer  antlers  and  other  things  of  a  queer  looks, 
Such  as  conk  shells  of  beautiful  shape  and  some  virtuoso  mixtures, 
The  cottage  by  the  river  side,  where  the  bold  rocks  on  the  shore 
Form  the  barriers,  like  a  bulwark  to  stay  away  the  tides 
Which  rise  and  fall  about  here  until  they  reach  the  nore 
Of  Sandy  Hook  or  Neversink  Light,  where  it  hides. 
This  very  ancient  domicil  was  a  feature  to  be  noted, 
From  the  fact  that  these  landmarks  of  the  islands  of  Manhattan 
Will  sink  in  a  short  time  from  the  memory,  to  be  quoted, 
And  will  be  lost  to  all  so  much  as  a  man  without  a  hat  on. 


MON  REPOSE  27 


So  we  will  turn  and  swing  our  poem  by  a  twisting  of  the  road, 

And  run  beyond  this  ancient  bower  of  love  and  friend  of  mine, 

And  by  a  jump  of  many  a  stadia  reach  to  where  stood 

Another  ancient  homestead  of  th±  days  of  "  Auld  lang  Syne," 

That  was  called  in  the  days  ago  the  ancient  Rogers'  Place  ; 

Not  Sir  Coverly  de  Rogers,  of  the  "  flitch  of  bacon  fame," 

But  the  father  of  the  Kembles,  another  venerable  race 

Of  men  and  women,  for  a  rose  by  any  other  name  smells  all  the  same, 

And  if  the  smell  of  its  fragrance  is  just  as  sweet  to  mind, 

What   is    the  difference  between  tweedle-dum   and   tweedle-dee    in 

name. 

Here  was  the  residence  of  grandees,  and  the  Knickerbockers  kind  — 
A  people  who  were  somebody,  who  had  pure  blood,  to  be  sure, 
That  had  bodies  ;  but  of  souls,  we  say  nothing  more  than  they  were 

kind, 

For  the  healing  of  such  diseased  folks  have  the  doctor  for  their  cure  ; 
For  of  all  races,  as  they  follow  down  the  branches  of  the  tree, 
Grow  gradually  less  as  they  are  distant  from  the  stump. 
To  get  at  the  measure  of  their  quality  its  fair  average  must  be, 
Made  of  their  degree  in  the  mixture  and  be  taken  in  a  lump. 
These  old  chatterboxes  of  society,  with  their  nut-cracking  teeth, 
Are  the  sloppings  over  of  a  too  full  cup,  you  will  find, 
Forever  gossiping  about  the  stock  of  others  in  a  sly  under  breath, 
Quite  do  strain  at  their  knats,  but  swallow  their  own  camels  never  ; 
The  big  beam  that   fills  their  hollow  eyes  —  from  the  mote  they  are 

blind, 

Like  the  mole  that  is  always  burrowing  under  the  earth, 
Which  must  be  ferreted  out  by  digging  with  a  spade  from  behind  ; 
Or  like  mushrooms  that  rise  up  from  the  fog's  early  birth 


2  8  "  MON  REPOS." 

To  sink  away  when  the  sun  is  fully  up  in  the  sky. 

These  fossils  of  an  ancient  period  of  time  quite  forget  - 

That  the  recentness  of  creation  casts  but  a  throw  of  the  die. 

These  people  own  pedigrees,  and  are  much  like  poor  tenements  to  lei 

That  this  custom  of  antique  folks  resemble  much  the  old  tea-kettle, 

They  called  the  pot  black  because  it  had  a  darker  skin. 

Notwithstanding,  these  prejudices  are  hard  still  to  settle. 

Like  their  pride  in  the  difference  or  distinction,  is  like  a  shadow  ver) 

thin. 

Leaving  aside  all  such  questions,  as  mere  matters  of  dispute 
For  philosophy  as  well  as  of  science,  is  of  a  very  ancient  date. 


(Orjrjin  of  2Titt<;. 


We  will  follow  closer  home  by  a  new  road  to  the  farm, 

And  consider  how  the  title  of  this  history,  now  to  relate  : 

A  grand  Mogul  from  the  Indies  came  once  upon  a  time, 

For  casting  all  his  future  horoscope  through  a  teacup  of  dry  leaves. 

Crossing  the  threshold  by  a  ferry,  call  it  Atlantic  or  the  clime, 

He  projected  a  plantation,  like  Jason,  it  turned  out  golden  fleece. 

By  digging  and  good  luck  his  works  were  blessed  by  the  Lord, 

Who  has  promised  all  his  servants,  if  they  keep  honest  and  fair, 

That  they  shall  have  full  return  and  a  glorious,  rich  reward, 

Provided  always  that  their  dealings  are  on  the  level  and  the  square. 

Diligent  in  business,  faithful,  well  he  held  on  to  his  trust. 

He  purchased  fields  that  many  hundred  rods  in  acres  told  ; 

He  felt  assurance  that,  in  time,  to  succeed  he  must  ; 

His  qualities  were  strengthened  by  his  ample  bags  of  gold. 

No  ancient  landmarks,  by  early  fathers  set,  did  he  remove  ; 

No  widow  grieved,  because  her  trusts  held  by  him  were  broken. 

Where  she  had  confidence  in  his  word  once  given  that  it  was  trove ; 


"MONXEPOS."  29 

For  all  his  deeds  and  looks  so  kind,  did  ever  so  betoken, 

His  presence  was  a  grace,  and  welcomed  was  every  friend. 

Such  was  the  man  who  truly  loved  to  greet  his  fellow  men. 

Strong  was  his  faith  in  Providence,  and  faithful  ever  to  the  end  ; 

The  poor  man  sought  his  door,  the  needy  was  not  forsaken. 

"  Honor  and  fame  from  no  condition  rise  ; 

"  *  The  gold  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp,'  said  Burns  ; 

"  Act  well  your  part,  there  all  the  virtue  lies  ; 

"  The  man  is  a  man  for  all  that  "  he  honestly  earns. 


Now  on  this  farm  there  was  everything  to  be  found 

In  the  old  mansion  of  the  good  Roger  family  ; 

His  homestead  was  established  well  and  amply  bound, 

It  was  well  cultivated  and  cared  for,  with  every  facility  ; 

Plows  and  harrows,  pigs,  poultry,  wagons  and  coaches, 

Horses  and  carriages,  even  cock-loft  with  tons  and  plenty  of  hay, 

Chickens  and  roosters,  with  henneries  and  cockroaches  ; 

And  watch  dogs  with  their  kennels,  and  barn-yards  for  their  full  play  , 

Men  who  worked,  and  servants  of  all  kinds  and  sexes  ; 

Those  very  particular  Irishmen  were  not  even  neglected. 

For  there  were  trees  on  the  places  of  every  variety,  which  vexes 

The  man  who  trims,  such  as  the  oak,  chestnut,  locust,  protected 

With  thorns  ;  besides  sassafras,  maples,  walnut,  hawthorn  and  beeches- 

Again,  tall  willow  and  the  tulip  trees,  which  really  please 

All  the  fast  ones  who  think  of  red  lips,  with  the  blush  on  the  peaches, 

Besides  the  cherry  and  white  wood,  that  bends  with  the  breeze, 

Not  forgetting  the  walnuts  nor  the  ominous  white  birch, 

Quite  reminding  one  of  our  school  days,  when  as  school  boys 

We  were  taken  by  forcible  entry,  and  taken  across  kness  with  a  lurch 


30  "  MON  REPOSr 

We  were  thrashed  by  the  pedagogue  for  making  such  a  noise, 

Thus  adding  a  chapter  to  perform  the  full  condition 

And  fill  up  the  catalogue  of  this  nice  produce  farm 

To  completion,  also  overtask  of  faithful  veneration, 

Should  omit  some  rare  particulars  and  do  it  much  harm. 

It  just  happens,  for  my  memory  must  surely  be  at  fault, 

How  I  forgot  not  to  mention  the  favorite  tree,  apple  ; 

The  Permain  and  Baldwin  greenings  and  sour  sweets. 

The  trees  must  forgive  me,  for  the  offence  is  so  capital, 

When  we  think  of  the  cider,  crab-apple  flavor,  that  greets 

And  suggests  the  pure  apple-jack,  the  sheet-lightning  of  Jersey, 

Whoever  has  drank  that  will  live  to  a  good  grey  old  age  ; 

I  know  that  from  evidence  given  me  by  one  Mr.  Hersey 

Who  served  all  his  neighbors,  for  they  thought  it  outrageous  ; 

Besides,  what  would  Mistress  Adam  have  thought  of  any  such 

An  error  on  the  poet's  book,  that  in  the  part  of  Hamlet 

He  should  have  placed  on  one  side  this  ancient  Dutch, 

And  left  in  that  memorable  play  the  principal  man  out  ; 

Besides,  Father  Adam,  first  parent  of  all  the  human  race, 

Would  have  sought  out  the  culprit  on  this  blind  occasion 

And  sent  a  token  of  his  curses  which  might  forever  efface 

This  pure  image  of  this  sacred  fact  and  spoil  his  whole  narration 

But  never  mind,  the  Lady  Eve  was  generous  and  kind, 

Too  much  chagrined  by  Adam's  puling  creatures, 

Treatment,  left  on  her  vocative  state,  when  she  ran  behind, 

And  left  old  Satan  to  console  them  in  their  fallen  feature. 


"MONREPOS?  vjl 

and  gesips. 

PLAIN  TALKS. 

It  is  a  wonder  to  the  town  that  so  near  a  great  city, 

A  real  country  place  may  be  still  be  seen  at  Sleepy  Hollow, 

Where  primeval  forest  trees  and  boulder  rocks  in  grand  simplicity, 

Afford  a  sheltering  roof  for  the  swiftly  flying  swallow. 

Strange  this  may  seem,  yet  stand  the  Woodlawn's  groves, 

Historic  famous  Claremont  Halls  rise  high  upon  the  Cliffs, 

Where  rushing  floods  of  tides  roars  wild,  like  the  rebel  droves, 

Its  loud  bellowing  oxen,  goaded  on  to  market  by  drivers  rough, 

This  surely  shows  that  Bloomingdale,  near  Gotham  city,  is 

But  a  syncope  of  ancient  times  and  redolent  with  history. 

That  chairs  exists  since  sixty-six  with  vouchers  of  all  this, 

And  other  remnants  of  the  pleasant  days  are  not  a  mystery. 

The  legendary  stories  of  the  sports  are  still  fresh  kept  by  some 

Old  antiquarian  grandmothers,  who  will  tell  you  by  the  hour 

What  belles  they  had  been  in  former  days,  what  beaux  gave  boquets, 

How  well  they  flirted  with  their  fans,  and  jilted  in  their  power  ; 

With  many  an  evening  spent  at  balls  and  mornings  at  croquets. 

But  we  must  hurry  away  from  these,  our  sketches  will  not  last, 

There  is  some  fun  to  lighten  up  views  from  these  old  sports, 

And  we  hasten  on  to  gather  up  the  fragments  which  break  cast 

Of  some  clever  jokes  and  picnics,  walks,  from  these  verses  and  theii 

shots  ; 
Of  Father  Weber,  an  old  man  of  eighty,  we  have  a  note  about  the 

Abbey, 

Meinherr  von  Dutchman  had  a  wife,  besides  he  smoked  his  clay  pipe, 
His  property  ran  down  to  the  river  but  his  stockings  were  shabby. 
So  in  old  age  he  took  a  woman  helpmate  of  the  young  stripe  ; 


S2  "MONKEPOS." 

But  as  always  happens,  between  January  and  May,  he  did  die  one  day, 
And  all  round  the  house  there  was  an  austere  burial  with  hearse, 
For  the  old  man  had  married  late,  he  said  it  once  in  play, 
And  as  he  bargained,  so  what  he  obtained,  was  some  twins  besides  a 

nurse. 

So  this  ends  the  first  story  of  Meinherr  and  his  glory. 
The  widow  she  departed,  and  after  some  consolation  from  friends, 
The  old  Weber  mansion  was  changed  to  an  inn,  with  a  second  story. 
But  the  landlord  not  keeping  Sunday  right,  was  struck  by  lightning 

and  the  fire  burnt  to  both  ends. 


—  "  Mors  est  omnibus  communis,"  writes  a  Latin  poet. 

A  hearse  is  but  another  kind  of  stage,  for  all  are  carried  by  one  to  the 

grave. 
So   it   occurred   one  day  that  every  air-tight  stove  in  parlors  would 

show  it. 

How  much  resemblance  to  a  tomb  its  looks  so  dumb  and  grave. 
Another  sweet  suggestion  arose  while  sitting  all  alone, 
One  day  came  to  me  on  a  bright  fair  Christmas  morn- 
Whispering,  spoke   the  beauty  of  an  Irish  legend  that  had  a  silvel 

tone. 

It  was  that  when  a  child  was  buried  at  a  funeral  in  the  island  green, 
The  door  of  the  troubled  mourners'  mansion  was  left  open  to  the  air, 
It  was  thought  that  the  angels  might  pass  in  and  be  seen  ; 
For  these  messengers  are  faithful  lights,  so  gentle  and  so  fair, 
From  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe,  with  gay  return 
To  scenes  of  comic  cast,  and  cheer  brings  joy  to  others. 
Tony  was  a  Welchman,  Tony  was  a  thief,  but  quite  taciturn, 
Tony  came  to  my  house  and  stole  a  chunk  of  beef. 


"MONREPOSr  33 

Now  this  neighbor  was  an  inn-keeper,  his  name  was  Jimmy  Welch  ; 
He  had  a  wife  that  plagued  his  life,  and  made  him  take  to  drink. 
Now  when  a  man  drinks,  the  wine  goes  into  the  mouth,  the  wit  tc 

the  shelf. 
Which  is  true  that  what  one  steals  with  the  devil,  it  goes  to  the 

brink. 

So  what  money  is  made  by  deceit,  over  the  shoulders  of  ill, 
Goes  out  under  the  belly,  deny  then  who  can  refute  it  ! 
For  a  dog  that  returns  to  his  vomit  finds  it  a  hogshead  of  swill, 
And  it  takes  no  prophet  of  wisdom  or  sense  to  dispute  it. 
The  Welsh  are  but  a  specimen  of  many  others  in  the  past,  we  knew, 
Them  warning  to  deter  their  fellow-men  from  taking  the  first  glass  ; 
A  second  taken  may  only  learn  how  their  ale  to  brew, 
The  last  placed  them  on  the  road  to  ruin  ;  that  people  saw,  alas  ! 


What  a  change  has  taken  place  in  this  region. 

Once  the  people  about  here  were  social  and  neighbors  at  hand  ; 

There  were  hundreds  of  house-holders  —  aye,  a  legion, 

And  were  responsible  owners  and  proprietors  of  the  land. 

There  were  the  Swains,  Meyers,  Malis,  the  Peunetts  and  Whites, 

The  Whitlocks,  Le  Roys,  Van  Post,  and  the  Haydocks, 

The  McVickers  and  Sheffleins,  Bryant  and  Browers  at  nights, 

And  Heywords  and  Palmers,  the  large  owners  of  docks. 

By  some  process  of  transfer,  by  the  choice  of  better  selection, 

Most  took  up  their  luggage  and  crossed  over  the  river. 

In  the  wise  ways  of  Providence  we  are  told  of  election, 

But  it  is  somewhat  hard  for  the  rest  of  us  to  stay  here  and  shiver. 

That  there  is  no  accounting  for  tastes  in  this  suffering  world. 

And  we  have  to  submit,  for  it  is  very  wrong  to  complain, 


^4  "  MON  REPOS? 

For  so  long  as  garments  are  charged  and  buttons  are  twirled, 

We  have  to  bear  losses  as  gains  and  endure  well  all  the  pain. 

The  blessings  will  come,  one  day  you  will  see  all  this  is  right. 

The  Island  of  Manhattan  carries  a  long  body  of  two  heads. 

The  crooked  ways   of    this   earthly   paradise   will   surely   be   made 

straight, 

And  the  triumph  at  last  will  result  in  a  parable  of  gold  threads, 
The  latter  days  of  this  seeming  paradox  but  of  solemn  facts, 
Will  show  a  blessing  for  all  those  who  will  survive  the  change, 
That  the  last  spot  on  which  the  revolution  in  form  reacts 
Will  show  that  between  all  extremes  there  is  always  a  middle  range. 
And  when  the  evolution  of  the  present  process  moving 
Will  reach  the  summits  and  procure  a  finished  end. 
The  lot  of  fortune  will  be  thrown  in  the  lap  of  patience  proving 
That  he  who  holds  on  and  keeps  his  purse  holds  on  to  his  last  friend, 
Will  see  this  island  covered  up  with  blessings  for  the  poor. 
The  rich  man  may  rejoice  that  he  has  placed  his  bonds  on  trust. 
Keeps  his  wealth  for  future,  he  is  not  so  very  sure, 
That  Providence  may  before  that  day  put  his  body  in  the  dust. 
The  die  is  cast  and  not  long  to  wait  has  he  who  serves 
His  Master  first,  which  he  has  a  very  good  chance  below, 
For  he  is  loved  who  loves,  and  hopes  for  no  return,  deserves 
A  better  fund  of  treasure  from  which  he  can  bestow. 

$foer-£iito  Drive. 

These   Boulevards  are  strange  convulsions  in  the  bowels  of  mothei 

earth 

That  sw:i*g  their  huge  length  across  the  whole  of  Manhattan  Island, 
And  hang  a  chain  from  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  Ring,  that  gave 

birth 


"MON -REPOS?  35 

To  the  grand  idea  of  its  transactions  in  the  heads  of  sons  of  Ireland. 

The  longitude  of  its  extremities  extend  in  width  seventy  miles, 

And  they  are  all  finished  found  the  circuit  of  the  spanded  plan. 

Its  width  would  stretch  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  by  Deacon  Giles' 

New  measuration,  running  from  the  reels  in  the  stand. 

Not  quite  content  in  beginning  from  out  the  Seventh  Avenue, 

The  band  of  engineers  ran  up  far  over  the  Break-Neck  Hill, 

And  plunging  along  by  side  of  Dykeman's,  from  the  last  avenue, 

Its  snaky  folds  twisted  over  by  Saint  Nicholas  past  Jumei's 

And  coming  back  again  swept  past  Bennett's  and  the  Havens. 

Having  turned  quite  a  somersault  not  far  from  the  great  high  bridge, 

And  rapidly  gerrymandering  in  a  sweeping  curve  like  thread  twine, 

It  turned  its  graceful  swan-like  neck  round  along  its  summit's  ridge, 

Then  ran  a  course  in  backward   set  in  coming  home  near  Hailem 

Lane, 
Near  to  the  line  of  the  Six-Mile   Trotting  Park,  just  by  McGowan'a 

Pass. 
From  the  control  that  guides  its  onward  way  quite  near  the  powder 

magazine, 

Then  hides  its  head  awhile  somewhere  behind  the  fence  in  grass 
Thus,  with    contortions,    extravaganzas,   and   extortions  small   and 

great, 
Purposed  by  the  first  superintendent  of  this  monster  game,  one  Bill 

Tweed, 
Proved  but  a  new  version  of  the  Utopia,  once  by  Sir  Philip  Sydney 

seen, 

And  through  the  cloud  rising  out  of  some  very  fragrant  weed, 
There  rose  a  proscription  by  that  master  Comptroller,  Mr.  Green. 
So  that  with  taxes,  assessments  large,  with  improvements  added, 
The  City  of  Manhattan  will  increase  in  splendor  and  in  magnificent 

size, 


35  "  MON  REPOS." 

And  simple  people  will  have  only  to  hold  their  heads  up  while  gaged. 
For  the  glamor  of  a  dream  about  the  grand  future  had  covered  up 

their  eyes 

Including  the  Boulevards,  well  so-named  from  the  French  work, 
From  the  fact  that  they  have  overturned  every  right  of  the  owners  to 

stop  them, 
We  make  mention  of  another  construction  called  the   Morning-Side 

Park, 
Because  the  first  sunrise  is  first  seen  from  the  side  of  the  hill-top, 

when 

The  bright  blush  of  its  rosy  light-beams  peep  over  its  walk, 
This  crowns  the  last  ridges  of  the  rocky  height  that  look'd  down  on 

the  valley, 

And  noteable  in  the  time  of  the  last  war  from  the  veterans  who  rose 
Up  in  arms,  with  fierce  valor,  and  bustled  in  hot  haste  to  rally 
And  beat  off  all  approach  of  the  red  coats  by  hard  blows, 
And  we  will  finish  off  all  this  line  of  summary  processes, 
By  the  last  undertaking  of  the  crafty  thieving  of  this  cabal's  chief, 
In  the  route  called  by  their  fancy  folks  of  the  trotters  and  the  press  ; 
Fast  horsemen  and  jockies  or  turfmen  and  grand  califf. 
"  The  River-Side  Drive"  which  will  run  within  sight  of  the  river, 
Always  in  honor  of  noble  Hendrick  Hudson's  ship,  before  Fulton's 

time,  who  ran  the  first  steamer, 
Not   like   some   of  the    modern  boats  that  burst  their  boilers  into 

shiver, 

This  plan  struck  one  legislative  Purserman,  who  was  a  good  dreamer, 
That  it  was  of  very  little  matter  so  long  as  he  had  his  hands  in 
The  city  treasury,  from  aid  of  the  pliant  wool  bags  to  pull  all 
A  few  more  dollars  from  the  rich  men  who  were  plethoric  in  skin. 
For  so  long  as  the  sheep  are  foolish,  not  brought  up  in  their  schooling 
What  harm  was  there  in  robbing  them  to  get  a  little  more  fleece. 


"  MON  PEPOSr  37 

These  geese  were  fat  and  wanted  a  goodly  amount  of  pulling, 

What  cared  they  so  long  as  they  could  stay  at  home  to  complot  in 

ease, 

When  primary  meetings  were  distilling  all  the  gin 
Inside  the  bar-rooms  of  the  publican  and  Tammany  high-priests. 
It  could  not  hurt  these  innocents  abroad  much  to  sin 
So  long  as  they  could  brew  a  hogshead  of  headed  beer  with  other 

baker's  yeast. 


s  ©mittd. 


tys  of 

One  great  and  kindling  thought  may  live, 
When  thrones  are  crumbling,  and  the  memory  of  those  who 
Filled  them  obliterated  :  and  like  an  undying  flame 
Illumine  and  quicken  all  future  generations." 


Some  things  seem  small  but  still  have  the  best  of  sacred  uses, 

Like  the  sweet  germs  of  all  the  flowers  that  bursting  from  their  roots, 

Bear  in  their  calyxun-folded  forms,  like  oil  in  cruises. 

These  are  but  evolutions  for  their  fully  ripened  fruits, 

Their  lives  are  hid  unseen,  but  unfolding  every  hour. 

What  is  the  fruits  but  the  true  development  of  the  stem 

That  is  brought  forth  in  revolving  and  turn  round  the  flower 

Untwisting  while  unravelling,  revolves  like  the  spindle  in   garments 

hem, 

As  the  light  fingers  turned  the  spinning  wheel  of  old, 
That  spun  the  flax  in  harmony  when  maidens  held  the  work, 
To  form  the  laces  that  wrought  out  fine  filagrees  in  gold, 
That  float  in  graceful  fairy-shapes  like  philacteries  of  the  frost  work, 
To  show  the  fact  that  angels'  messengers  from  the  outside  world, 
In  fluttering  visits  to  sprinkle  the  windows  and  brushing  with  then 

wings. 


^g  "  MON  REPOS." 

0m 

Left  the  children  of  the  snow  storm  while  the  winds  were  hurled, 
And  pattering  steps  tapped  the  glass  in  advent  of  the  coming  spring 
Then  winter  came  not  as  the  burial  of  the  covered  earth, 
Only  to  shovr  how  all  things  must  bring  forth  a  change, 
That  all  terrestial  objects  are  but  the  development  of  a  better  birth 
And  over  all  the  heavenly  hosts  move  in  celestial  range, 

s,  and 


"  Too  many  cooks  spoil  the  broth  "  may  well  be  truly  said 

Of  that  sad  poet  who  mixed  up  so  many  various  things 

In  a  compound  of  fancies  that  is  hardly  to  be  read, 

Such  as  a  curious  medley  of  rythms  and  a  satire  about  the  rings 

Among  such  a  lot  of  fixtures  as  stables  and  ricketty  old  barns, 

That  stand  between  the  first  chapter  and  the  finale  at  rest 

To  end  in  the  good  products  of  the  dunghill  and  the  fertile  farm, 

That  are  named  in  the  catalogue  as  all  of  the  very  best, 

Of  vegetables  to  be  placed  by  the  cooks  on  any  man's  tables, 

Consisting  of  prime  potatoes  and  peach  blossoms  with  eyes, 

That  are  to  take  all  the  prizes  at  the  Institutes  stables, 

Alongside  of  cabbages  or  cresses  and  ripe  corn  for  the  prize, 

With  asparagus  and  ockras  and  sharp  rhubarb  so  tart, 

As  to  spoil  all  the  egg-plants  and  carets  so  sweet, 

That  all  the  blood  beets  turned  quite  red  in  the  cart, 

So  ashamed  were  the  parsnips  that  the  celery  had  to  retreat, 

While  the  onions  took  to  caressing  the  rutabago  turnips 

And  embracing  the  pumpkins  by  clasping  the  vine 

That  the  melons  were  determined  to  fairly  water  their  lips, 

At  such  a  distortion  of  principles  they  had  to  decline, 

So  that  all  the  committeemen  had  to  consult  on  the  case, 

And  concluded  by  rendering  a  verdict,  a  true  one  of  course, 


"MONREPOSr  39 

Now  the  jury  was  certainly  out,  but  left  in  hot  haste, 
For  fear  that  the  expense  of  the  trial  would  not  reimburse, 
They  concluded,  after  dinner,  by  issuing  a  summary  process, 
By  a  writ  of  injunction,  to  settle  the  whole  and  check  all  the  matter 
Which  was  served  by  the  sheriff,  the  result  in  the  jail  and  duress. 
The  cook  paid  the  costs  and  dished  the  kitchen  stuff  in  a  platter. 
And  to  sum  up  the  cause,  she  pitched  the  whole  in  a  brown  puree, 
And  she  told  us,  as  one  day  she  spoke  from  her  place  in  her  chat 
ter, 
That  in  Irish  woman's  brogue,  which  she  learned  from  Dundreary,  by 

the  way, 

A  proverb,  "  That  the  cook  is  never  at  shorts  for  herself  when  the  Boss 
has  to  pay" 

©Id  grants. 

"  A  servant  with  this  clause, 

Makes  drudgery  divine, 
"Who  sweeps  a  room  as  for  thy  laws, 

Makes  that  and  the  action  fine, 
Whose  eyes  look  up  in  faith." 

She  serves  who  waits,  and  waiting  serves  the  hours  of  daily- need, 

"  Whose  eyes  look  up  in  faith  to  see  her  mistress  "  well, 

Shall   reward   her   patience,  a   fit   reward,  from  serving  joy,   a  gift 

indeed," 

Which  shall  repay  all  her  labors  from  a  fountain  dell, 
Which  will  flow  from  heaven  with  pure  waters  by  buckets  drawn, 
To  fill  the  soul,  her  soul,  through  all  reproof  of  weather  or  spite  of 

thorn, 

With  trust  in  good,  will  shield  her  from  the  proud  man's  scorn, 
And  bring  an  angel  in  the  early  morn  with  his  sword  drawn, 


40  "MON  REPOSr 

To  shield  the  faithful  handmaid  from  sign  of  fear, 

And  watching  over  her  hidden  secret,  humble  line  of  duty, 

Countenance  her  sweet  submission  and  every  toil  and  care, 

To  give  assurance  to  her  heart  and  crown  her  rest  with  beauty. 

Such  was  the  faith  of  one  old  maiden  cook  named  Lucy, 

Who  passed  her  life  in  silent  service  to  her  heavenly  father  ; 

She  was  formerly  a  princess,  taken  from  the  coast  on  Africa's  shore, 

And  died  at  last  in  the  brown  cottage  not  much  farther 

Than  fifty  yards  from  the  gate  of  her  daily  task  of  duty  and  grace, 

That  what  was  meet  to  complete  the  objects  of  her  mission, 

And  was  decently  buried  by  the  dear  rector  of  Saint  Mary's,  whose 

lace, 
Much  more  meek  than  that  of  most  of  modern  preachers,  who  lack 

submission. 

Another  ancient  dame  of  venerable  aspect  and  mien, 
Was  just  as  faithful  in  her  walks,  from  the  first  day  of  this  poem. 
She  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  was  born  in  the  green — 
For  old  Ireland  was  her  birth  place  and  earliest  home  ; 
She  was  a  crone  in  her  ways,  and  quite  prompt  in  her  duties, 
That  no  wayfaring  fellow  could  approach  to  the  gate 
So  long  as  this  old  Cerberus  stood  near  with  her  shooties, 
With  all  the  dogs  set  upon  these  vagabond  parties, 
To  send  them  away  without  food  or  paraties. 
Thus  her  fame  was  well  sounded  abroad, 
And  the  premises  well  guarded  from  without, 
For  shooting  was  expensive  and  murders  played  out, 
And  the  angel  of  peace  is  the  voice  in  a  word, 
And  the  shout  of  a  female  is  enough  with  her  shout ; 
And  the  fort  of  a  man  is  his  own  private  castle  ; 
And  Fortis  in  leges  poteor  in  jure" 
Is  the  law  of  the  Baron  as  well  as  the  vassal, 


"MONREPOS?  41 

And  the  screams  of  a  woman  is  the  yell  of  the  furies. 

The  result  of  all  this,  there  was  peace  in  the  house  ; 

And  there's  reason  in  all  things,  if  we  did  but  know  it, 

For  the  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  not  even  a  mouse 

Could  be  kept  in  this  mansion  so  long  as  the  poet 

Of  Bloomingdale  lived  there,  with  a  cat  for  his  friend  ; 

And  you  know  that  an  empty  traveler  may  whistle 

Before  the  robber  and  his  pistol— quotes  Juvenal  at  the  end, 

And  wooden  guns  stuck  in  the  sand-bags,  bristles, 

Which  are  as  alarming  as  the  picket's  sentry  shout. 

But  to  return  to  the  aged  female,  now  grown  old, 

She  certainly  knows  well  what  she  is  about, 

For  there  never  was  a  more  successful  scold. 

And  we  conclude  with  this  secret  for  the  ending 

That  what  she  did  not  know  was  not  worth  the  while  to  mind. 

Just  like  a  message     by  a  fool's  hand  is  not  worth  sending, 

For  you  may  still  find  another  fool  at  the  other  end." 

This  moral  finds  this  portion  of  our  servant's  tale. 

If  one  wants  friendship,  never  break  your  pledge  ; 

If  you  be  very  honest  keep  away  from  jail, 

And  never  play  with  axes  with  a  double  edge. 

(DM 

Have  we  forgotten  thee,  Old  Charley?     Hamilton,  thy  other  name, 

Recalls  a  great  State  minister,  who  was  shot  by  Aaron  Burr. 

Not  to  have  remembered  thee,  old  color'd  friend,  would  have  been  a 

shame, 
For  thy  services  were  constant,  always  ready,  smart,  and  free  from 

slur. 
How  often  do  we  find  that  "  like  master,  so  is  servant," 


42  "MONREPOSr 

So  imitative  that  it  looks  as  if  his  very  shadow  followed, 

As  in  the  wake  cf  a  great  rock,  which  the  big  pyramids  in  Sahara 

casts  aslant, 
Where  the  shades  of  the  ten  thousand  centuries  look  down,  for  I  have 

borrow'd 
The  grand  Napoleonic  Bonaparte  idea,  "  his  war  in  Egypt  we  can 

recant. 

Now  this  old  nigger  blackamore  disliked  to  be  called  a  black  ; 
Preferred  much  the  name  of  color'd  as  best  suited  to  his  mind, 
For  his  pride  was  as  great  as  Lucifer — such  reflection  on  the  family 

was  a  rack 

Against  his  principals,  whose  treatment  of  them  had  been  always  kind. 
He  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Philip's,  was  an  attendant  at  the  church. 
Now  he  was  a  staunch  Episcopalian,  and  quite  constant  in  his  prayers, 
His  hymnals  sweet,  and  his  book  of  common  ritual  was  a  perch 
On  which  he  could  hang  his  perfect  faith  to  solace  all  his  cares. 
It  was  a  feeling  of  great  sympathy  that  bound  them  to  his  friend 
Of  all  the  color'd  race,  for  he  was  surely  one  of  the  family  of  Adam. 
There  certainly  was  a  negro  in  the  ark,  when  ancient  Noah  did  send 
The  boat  afloat,  well  pitched,  shut  up  in  Gopher  wood  as  tight  as  any 

clam. 

It  has  been  proved  in  later  days  that  Herodus  was  not  a  liar, 
That  one  of  the  sons  of  Ham  was  not  cursed  among  the  rest  ; 
That  Nimrod  was  a  mighty  one,  and  a  credit  to  his  sire, 
And  that  the  builder  of  great  Nineveh  was  a  man  of  woolly  crest  ; 
And  ever  since  the  day  of  yore,  and  even  to  the  present  day, 
It  is  told  that  the  negro  man  was  a  great  artificer  in  fire, 
And  he  had  a  hand  in  forging  out  the  potter's  clay, 
These  casts  of  iron  works  from  earthen  pots  that  rise  to  higher. 
It  may  be  this  man  was  worth  his  weight  in  gold  in  former  times, 
When  men  were  chattels,  held  and  let  out  as  slaves  for  hire. 


"  MON  REPOS?  43 

But  things  have  changed  since  those  days  of  barbarous  crimes 

Did  rule  the  vassal's  soul  and  spoil  the  serfs  for  mercenary  desire. 

The  Lord  has  led  captivity  captive  and  given  new  gifts  to  man. 

The  man  of  peace  has  spread  his  fostering  wings  o'er  earth, 

And  the  angel  has  now  risen  in  the  shape  of  the  pen  ; 

And  the  sword  turned  to  plow-shares  has  given  new  birth, 

For  those  offerings  of  Heaven  to  teach  us  that  no  being  is  so  low 

That  the  true  law  of  its  maker  shall  not  in  justice  confirm 

The  full  promise  to  the  meek  and  the  humble,  the  first  right  with  love, 

For  all  human  creatures,  of  whatever  climate  and  form. 

It  is  alike  in  the  tribute  of  equity  and  justice  as  their  birth-right. 

And  that  every  submission  in  the  bending  of  stiff  necks 

Make  the  easier  yoke  for  the  burthen  to  the  back  lighten. 

If  the  load  that  is  bore  by  the  oxen,  we  are  taught  by  the  texts, 

Is  fastened  by  merciful  hands  of  the  loving  master  ; 

They  will  move  all  the  faster  if  the  muzzle  is  loosened  ; 

And  the  end  will  be  peaceful  and  the  heart  grow  faster, 

For  the  hand  that  is  crushed  hides  the  hand  of  the  coward. 

This  old  faithful  servant  at  last  gave  out,  and  has  passed  away 

To  the  home  of  the  aged /  he  was  taken  to  rest  for  a  little  while 

From  his  task  of  the  body  and  his  toil  of  the  days, 

And  in  the  fullness  of  time,  after  making  his  peace  in  a  smile, 

He  departed  in  the  full  assurance  of  the  soul  who  prays, 

That  it  may  have  these  hopes  of  Heaven  rewarded, 

With  the  firm  conviction  that  in  the  gathered  harvest 

He  would  have  the  measure  of  his  faith  awarded, 

That  he  would  reap  what  he  had  planted  in  the  region  of  the  blessed 

He  was  buried  with  all  the  ceremony  of  the  church  which  he  served, 

Among  the  faithful  friends  that  waited  at  his  burial, 

And  was  attended  by  the  friends  whom  he  rewarded, 

And  laid  his  body  in  the  Cypress  Hill  without  further  ceremony. 


44  "MONREPOSr 


From  grave  to  gay,  from  lively  to  severe,  we  turn  away, 

And  while  the  lamp  of  life  holds  out  to  burn,  we  pass 

To  other  work  and  change  the  nature  of  the  sad,  to  play 

Among  scenes  of  merriment  and  joyful  mirth  meet  on  the  grass. 

Favorable  to  health  are  the  pastimes  of  modern  times,  we  find 

That  picnies,  or  parties  given  out  of  doors,  are  often  the  most  agree 

able  ; 

When  pleasant  friends  assemble  outside  the  parlors  open  doors, 
To   enjoy  the  sunshine  and  festivities  held  under  the  noble  trees; 

Avhen  the  table 

Is  laid  out  on  the  lawn,  and  the  grass-plots  form  the  needed  floors  ; 
What  with  the  dancing  and  flirtations  under  the  trelliced  arbors, 
Mingled  with  the  grouping  of  the   croquet  and  archery,  that  noble 

game  of  the  past, 

The  day  passes  always  merrily  until  after  the  spent  hours, 
When  the  noon-  day  repast  has  been  spread  and  gone,  and  the  music 

last. 

All  the  while  there  is  running  a  rapid  stream  of  agreeable  interchange 
Of  civilities  and  conversation,  and  hospitalities   extended  to  all  the 

friends. 

And  traveled  guest  comes  in  to  compare  and  swiftly  run  the  range 
Of  all   they  saw  in  Switzerland  —  how  Ihey  climed   the  Alps  to  their 

ends  ; 

And  gave  an  account  of  all  their  little  adventures  and  trips  so  strange. 
Of  how  it  happens  frequently,  that  some  old  friend  we  see  again, 
Who  long  ago  we  met  at  school  and  had  our  fun  together, 
Such  chatting  and  gossiping  between  makes  life  appear  a  legerde 

main  ; 
And  it  turns  upon  the  constant  thinking  thoughts  about  the  weather. 


MON  REPOSC 


45 


While  some  one  will  say  whether  it  is  best  or  not  to  drink  your 
coffee 

When  its  hot  or  cold  ;  some  say  it's  tea,  the  others  don't  drink  bohea. 

Its  all  the  same  in  Dutch,  we  say,  just  hand  your  tray  to  Cuffee  ; 

And  if  you  like,  a  little  more  sugar,  and  perhaps  a  little  of  the  green 
tea. 

Then  change  to  chocolate,  and  after  slopping  over  a  piece,  take  your 
plate, 

And  waiter — bring  me  if  you  please.     I'll  take  my  cup  upon  my  knee. 

That's  the  French  fashion,  we  are  told,  when  the  ice-cream  is  not  first- 
rate. 

And  so  the  day  goes,  and  everybody  seems  pleased  to  find  themselves 
at  ease. 

Where  everybody  is  in  such  good  humor,  who  could  ever  quarrel, 

For  all  good  society  is  always  on  its  very  best  behavior,  sure. 

For  there  was  no  concern  whether  your  grey  mare  was  black  or  sorrel, 

So  long  as  she  had  not  the  hippogippus,  for  that  you  cannot  cure. 

So  well  engaged  that  time  passed  away  like  a  charm  j 

There  was  nobody  hurt,  there  was  nobody  to  weep. 

Miss  Jones  had  her  lover,  and  Mister  Brown  had  her  arm, 

And  all  the  old  cronies  cooed — all  that  they  could  warm 

The  inside  of  his  copses,  and  the  fine  Havana  cigars  for  outside  ; 

For  the  evening  is  coming  on,  and  they  are  at  a  long  distance,  besides, 

And  a  long  ferry  to  cross,  over  the  bridge  there  was  a  strong  tide  ; 

But  there  is  a  carriage  for  Tompkins  and  a  gig  for  the  brides  ; 

There  never  was  a  party  gotten  up  in  such  a  grand  style 

Since  the  Baron  of  Bronxville  married  the  splendid  Miss  Tilly  Giles, 

When  they  slaughtered  ten  oxen  and  roasted  all  the  oysters  in  oil. 

Then  the  chief  was  a  foreigner  and  belonged  to  the  Wildes. 

In  conclusion  of  all,  that  for  picnics  we  have  now  to  say  in  good  is, 

That  variety  was  always  pleasing,  but  constancy  is  not,  I  think,  for  me. 


45  "  MON  REPOSr 

We  have  attended  church  picnics  down  in  the  Woodlawn  Woods, 
And  at  Mount  Morris,  near  where  the  Sixth  Avenue  high  farms  — 
That  was  given  before  Park  enclosed  the  lines  of  this  hill  — 
When  the  children  went  there  to  enjoy  their  fun  and  a  nice  swing. 
And  good  Doctor  Deems  is  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Strangers  still 
He  is  a  man  after  my  heart,  who  seizes  time  on  the  wing. 
But  the  picnic  of  all,  that  beats  great  and  small  for  rare  fun, 
Is  the  one  which  one  July  was  past  by  a  Sunday  School  on  the  Bronx 
River,  near  the  farm  of  one  Popham,  near  Scarsedale,  in  run 
That  leaves  an  impression  on  my  mind  like  the  seal  of  the  onyx. 
There  was  music  and  dancing,  and  swings  hung  on  the  trees, 
Copenhagen,  and  caper,  and  carrolling,  and  heart's  easing  plants, 
There  were  children,  and  cradles,  and  babes  nursed  on  the  knees. 
But  the  grace  that  comes  from  this  will  comes  back  not  aslant, 
For  the  bright  sunshine  of  love  has  gilded  that  prospect  forever. 
This  was  the  gladness  that  gleams  from,  like  the  fullness  of  a  river. 
And  the  crown  of  that  gay  scene,  I  pray,  will  never  sink, 
For  it  beams  like  the  moonbeams  under  clouds  tinged  with  silver. 

(Bharties—  Sh  and  Units'  gLs 


Now  this  good  institution  was  in  the  care  of  good  Mr.  Guest  ; 

All  the  children  —  half  orphans  —  were  well  treated  and  surely  well  fed; 

For  the  bread  was  kept  over  till  it  was  old  and  sweet,  for  the  best 

Of  wheat  flour,  well  bolted  and  baked  until  it  wed 

That  blissful  state  of  digestion  that  leads  to  good  health  — 

That  waits  upon  appetite  which  comes  from  out-door 

Exercises  and  gymnastics,  romps,  walks,  within  and  without, 

With  plenty  of  sunshine,  but  not  when  the  rain  pours  ; 

But  a  good  ventilation  always  keeps  the  ills  out. 

All  the  boys  look  so  hearty  and  the  girls  are  strong, 


"MONREPOSr  4j 

That,  taken  together,  they  grow  up,  in  spite  of  all  weather, 

To  make  the  best  citizens  that  can  ever  be  found  ; 

So  that  when  they  come  to  be  men  and  women  together 

They  were  faithful  and  honestly  formed,  and  be  bound, 

As  a  well  twisted  cord  round  a  bundle  of  sticks. 

In  the  fable  of  ^Esop,  where  the  man  and  his  sons  speak 

Of  the  strong  bond  of  Union  that,  united,  will  stand 

Forever  in  friendship,  so  long  as  stars  and  stripes 

Remain  on  the  flag  of  the  American  land. 

For  the  white  and  blue  shield  on  the  breast  of  our  eagle 

Will  rise  as  still  Excelsior,  the  foremost  of  all  nations, 

To  protect  all  the  people  who  hear  the  sound  of  our  bugle, 

And  mingle  their  red  blood  as  true  common  relations  ; 

Shall  teach  all  the  world  that  we  are  the  offsprings 

Of  one  eternal  parent  for  all  future  ages, 

And  that  to  break  this  headstone  of  the  fountain  of  springs 

Will  leave  the  sad  destruction  of  his  hard  written  pages. 

So  that  the  lesson  to  be  learnt  this  year  will  show  clearly 

That  peace  will  reign,  because  the  day  has  broken 

In  no  uncertain  signs  of  glory  in  its  glow, 

And  all  the  passed  sunshine  our  future  joys  betoken. 

This  charity  for  orphans  was  founded  by  a  fund  left  by  two  gentle 
men 

Of  kind  and  simple  natures,  who  had  faith  in  the  belief  that  to  take 
good  care  of  little  folk, 

Who  had  been  bereft  of  parents,  whether  males  or  females,  and  de 
prived  of  them, 

Was  to  make  them  capable  of  being  able  to  help  themselves,  without 
much  talk  ; 

For  "  the  least  said,  the  soonest  mended,"  is  as  true  as  "  duty  is  t« 
do"— 


Something  for  other  people,  not  for  self — to  stand  shivering  on  the 

brink,  , 

Just  as  one  must  first  button  up  your  gaiters  and  then  fasten  well  your 

shoe. 
We  all  recollect  the  fate  of  "  Jink's  Baby,"  who  was  left  out  with  a 

think  ; 

For  he  came  to  grief  at  last,  after  all  the  society's  fine  discussions 
About  the  manner  of  his  disposing  this  thirteenth  child  of  a  father 
Who  had  an  intention  of  just  throwing  it  into  the  bottom  of  the  river 

Cruseon, 
Thus  to  end  all  the  trouble  of  providing  for  this  infant  without  more 

bother  ; 
But  the  mother  interposed,  when  the  cruel  parent  thought  to  send 

him 

To  the  convent  care  of  nuns,  with  a  ticket  pinned  upon  his  sleeves. 
Up  the  spout  of  the  elevator's  gift  box,  and  after  ring  of  bell  to  leave 

him. 
Such  a  proceeding  was  quite  Catholic,  and  would  save  a  world  of 

grieves. 

It  was  much  better  than  to  drown  it,  after  fastening  it  with  a  brick, 
And  would  have  shorten'd  all  anxiety  as  to  the  fortune  of  the  found 
ling. 
It  would  save  the  care  of  hospital  and  relieve  the  committee  of  some 

work, 

And  society  would  have  suffered  no  great  expense  for  the  building 
Of  the  supernumerary  cradling  of  an  infant,  less  so  light  as  cork  ; 
But  the  kind   Fates   did   order   otherwise,  and   a   good   Providence 

stepped  in, 

And  mercy  lighted  up  a  way  for  the  protection  of  this  lone  orphan. 
That  was  temporary  relief,  just  as  half  a  loaf  cannot  be  sold  for  gin, 


"  MON  REPOSE  49 

And  the  solemnity  of  the  holy  causes,  at  loss,  proposed  another  safer 

plan — 
To  half  educate  this  new  offspring  in  the  school  about  the  origin 

of  sin. 

That  Christians  even  may  differ  in  their  many  divers  sects, 
But  the  trouble  is  too  frail,  a  fact  without  any  show  of  pretext. 
My  good  brother,  Mr.  Gttest,  comes  with  the  rest  to  close 
The  passages  of  this  theme  of  household  and  homebred  thoughts  ; 
That  seem  to  be  given  to  me  like  the  boquets  of  sweet  roses, 
Long  hidden  in  the  midst  of  a  bunch  of  violet  forget-me-nots. 
What  fairer  binding  could  so  well  disclose  the  mind, 
That  folds  within  the  secret  of  the  silent  moving  past  of  years, 
That  were  spent  within  the  borders  of  this  range  of  kind 
Memories  of  friends,  that  stray  over  me  like  falling  tears. 
It  may  resemble  more  the  dew-drop  that  slips  between  the  jessamine 

and  roses — 

Like  diamonds,  sparkling  with  prismatic  rays  through  lens  of  sight. 
Those  humid  moistures  of  the  soul  in  silent  rests  of  hope  reposed, 
And  wings  its  buoyant  weight  towards  higher  flight 
Above  the  gloomy  shadows  that  check  its  pregnant  growth  ; 
Aspiring  ever  as  every  happy  form  of  earthly  shape  is  taken 
To  reach  the  zenith  of  the  prime  of  its  ethereal  worth  ; 
It  beats  with  heaving  pulses  in  the  progress  that  it  makes 
To  fill  up  the  measure  and  run  its  fuge  in  harmony  of  metre — 
To  beautify  the  birth  that  crowned  it  with  such  lustre, 
And  complete  a  perfect  likeness  to  its  outspring  of  feature — 
That  from  the  buds  that  were  gushing  forth  to  bind  the  cluster, 
And  fulfill  the  whole  design  in  which  it  produce. 
Just  as  the  flagroots  bear,  in  husky  mould  of  earthly  root, 
The  imperial  emblem  of  the  glorious  Fleur  de  Luce. 
These  garments  of  the  fields  hold  not  a  more  gorgeous  shoot, 


50  "MONREPOS? 

Compared  with  all  the  lillies  of  the  valley,  do  not  shine. 
For  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  like  these  arrayed. 
The  hand  that  made  them  beautiful  was  the  Lord  divine, 
And  human  thought  apart  from  Him  has  only  strayed. 

©Id 

Knowledge  is  the  treasury — discretion  is  the  key  to  it ;  it  is  power, 

Some  say,  but  wisdom  keep,  and  you  will  reap  your  gain  in  the  end. 

But  to  maintain  your  youth  hold  on  to  temperance  during  every  hour 

Then  frugality  will  regulate  the  passions  and  be  your  friend  ; 

While  industry  will  be  best  illustrated  by  the  bee-hive  well  stored, 

Which  the  busy  bee  doth  gather  every  time  she  sips  the  honey 

From  the  flowers ;  as  she  skips  along  among  the  yielding  fields, 

She  fills  her  bags  just  as  the  merchant  men  their  money. 

But  it  is  in  self-denial  that  the  most  exalted  pleasure  yields, 

The  gold  is  hidden  in  the  quartz-rock  chasms  in  the  mine, 

And  be  quarried  out  by  the  Cornish  pick  and  under  heavy  blasts, 

And  still  the  pure  jewels  of  the  metal  need  a  process  to  refine, 

To  form  the  costly  bracelet,  that  the  fair  arms  of  maidens  clasp. 

So  we  learn  a  lesson  that  Frugality  is  a  fortune,  and  Industry  a  good 

state. 

Now  all  this  was  taught,  at  my  request,  one  day  to  bring  a  platter  dish 
Which  old  Aunt  Lucy,  kitchen  cook,  sent  us  for  a  porcelain  plate, 
Which  was  embellished  all  round,  to  illustrate  the  fish 
Of  pure  morality,  on  which  was  wreathed  all  sorts  of  pretty  sketches 
Of  trees  and  temples,  castles,  landscapes,  rocks  and  running  streams, 
Cornucopia  and  date  palms,  bearing  fruits  alongside  of  foliage  green, 
And  other  water  scenes,  amid  bunches  of  grass  and  ships.    It  seems 
The   letters   round   the   borders  were  Knowledge,    Temperance,  and 

Industry,  seen 


Illustrated  by  the  context  of  the  bee-hive,  with  children's  and  women's 

heads  and  flowers, 
To  express  the  last,  and  then  a  flowing  fountain,  with  a  tutor  with  his 

scholars  standing  at  his  feet  to  learn 
From  Temperance,  while   Knowledge,  with  a  globe  and  a  ship  in 

sight,  teaching  a  youth  under  bowers. 
That  Knowledge,  with  Temperance  and  Frugality,  would  not  serve  a 

good  turn. 

And  in  the  centre  of  this  wonderful  dish  of  human  knowledge. 
Were  the  elevated  form  of  a  noble  palm  tree,  with  mountain  views  and 

castle  in  sighL 

The  warts  on  one's  fingers  can  be  cured  by  potatoes,  applied 
In  a  poultice  of  starch,  if  there  is  strong  faith  in  the  bowl 
Of  good  starch  that  is  thickened,  not  if  the  touchstone  is  tried, 
For  there  is  only  faith  in  odd  numbers,  said  '*  Rory  O'Moreill," 
When  he  dreamed  of  his  luck,  when  he  waked  up  one  night, 
To  find  thai  a  nightmare  had  troubled  his  very  vexed  forehead  ; 
He  was  startled  by  visions  so  he  prayed  with  all  his  might 
That  this  phantom  &?£-goblin  might  be  sent  from  his  bed. 
So  it  is  asked  that  no  pruning  shall  be  thrown  across  this  goose  quill, 
To  stop  the  sad  itch  of  writing  from  this  table  that  will  creak 
Under  the  pressure  of  something  that  sticks  out  quite  plain. 
That  had  we  only  eaten  a  partridge  instead  of  some  hard  quail. 
It  might  seem  then  that  the  poet  had  a  softening  of  the  brain. 
Which  might  cause  a  convulsion  and  make  a  complaint  for  the  ail, 
Or  what  would   be   worse   than  either,   "  The  Leak  or   the    Watt* 

House," 

Bring  another  inmate  of  frenzy  into  that  neighboring  asylum, 
That  is  called  by  the  patients  a  good  mansion  for  the  carouse. 
What  Adolpht  Karr  insists  on,  it  is  a  wonder  that  sound  folks, 
Should  build  such  fine  castles  or  buildings  in  brown  stone, 


52  "MONREPOSr 

That  looks  as  if  they  were  to  make  them  on  some  practical  jokes, 
In  order  to  keep  the  real  crazy  madmen  outside  on  the  curbstone. 
For  it  really  seems  all  the  rich  brokers  have  grown  older  in  crimes, 
And  that  stealing  and  robbing  are  merely  some  newly  found  gifts, 
Sent  down  by  the  lightning  rods  and  fastened  with  red  twines  ; 
And  that  all  speculators  are  quite  handsome  as  true  lifts, 
That  by  their  petards  are  hoisted  up  by  a  better  kind  of  blocks, 
To  raise  the  wind  by  a  kiting  up  through  the  spheres, 
And  that  idolatry  and  mammon  worship  is  simply  only  stocks 
Of  wooden  presents  saved  out  of  the  fires  to  be  presented  at  the  quin 
tal  years. 

Just  as  a  bridegroom  does  to  his  lady,  when  he  is  lucky  if  he  lives 
To  see  the  fifth  night  anniversary  of  his  wedding,  provided  always  he 

survives. 

Knowledge  is  the  treasury  and  discretion  the  key  to  open  its  hives. 
Well  kept  is  the  wisdom  which  is  kept  to  foster  your  gains  in  your 

sleeves, 
That  will  maintain  your  youth  and  live  with  happiness  and  in  peace 

on  his  strives. 

It  was  the  bold  Argonaut  sailor,  who  won  the  golden  fleece. 
It  regulates  the  passions  and  keeps  you  from  sin  and   sorrow,  quiet 

from  thieves, 

And  in  self-denial  is  the  most  exalted  pleasure  found  in  peace, 
While  industry  is  best  illustrated  in  the  garden  by  a  bee-hive  store, 
That  busy  insect  that  gathers  honey  all  the  day  from  every  flower. 
For  there  can  be  no  sufficient  gain  without  much  pain  any  more. 
Like  the  practice  of  the  French  physician  told  his  patient  in  the  side 

hour, 

Quit  medicine  and  study,  and  throw  physic  to  the  drains  ; 
For  frugality  is  a  fortune,  and  industry  will  procure  you  a  very  good 
state, 


"MON  REP  OS? 


53 


So  that  you  may  live  all  the  rest  of  your  life  without  pains, 

Free  from  neuralgia  and  heartaches,  which  might  trouble  your  pate. 


polling  Sound 


As  when  the  traveler  in  a  storm  looks  forward  to  the  end  of  his 

journey, 
And  sees  the  light  gleaming  out  of  the  windows  of  his  own  house  it 

lessens  the  way  ; 
His  heart  revives,  and  strong  with  the  thoughts  of  home  he  travels 

easy; 

He  breasts  the  snows  and  buffeting  the  winds,  thinks  it  all  fair  play. 
So  does  a  writer  who  begins  to  write  of  things  familiar  from  his  boy 

hood, 

Thinks  it  long  until  he  seems  to  feel  that  the  end  is  not  far  off, 
And  often  flatters  he  would  like  to  stop  his  Pegasus  if  he  well  could, 
But  deems  it  further  ahead,  like  the  mile  -stone  that  seems  to  scoff" 
His  weary  waiting  for  the  termination  of  the  ever  shifting  sign-board. 
This  is  so  in  a  country  where  the  roads  are  rough  ;  but  now  we  are  at 

home, 

The  day  of  his  years  are  passing  swiftly  and  feel  as  if  a  long  goad 
Was  pricking  us  behind,  and  that  we  have  no  longer  ways  to  roam. 
What  shall  we  say  of  all  the  things  that  crowd  around  these  pages  ; 
Of  the  quails  we  have  shot  on  the  old  farm  ground  and  the  woodcocks 

in  the  corn. 
They  have  gone,  and  the  singing  birds  have  flown  before  the  guns 

of  new  gages. 
The  rabbit,  that  once  dwelt  in  safety  along  the  edges  of  the  running 

waters'  tide, 
Have,  with  the  timid  hare,  been  driven  away  before  the  progress  of 

the  day  ; 


54  "MONREPOSr 

The  cottages  still  linger  in  the  old  abode,  standing  by  the  wayside  ; 
Think  they  must  soon  depart,  they  feel  the  inroads  of  the  money  mart 
The  old  Rock  Cottage,  with  its  whitewashed  walls,  speaks  of  the 

blind  man, 
Whose  eyes  were  struck  out  by  the  fearful  blasts  of  powder,  yet  still 

do  smart. 
He  had  no  redress  for  the  pain  endured,  for  he  himself  did  hold  the 

can  ; 
His  family  has  never  suffered,  for  the  heart  felt  a  sympathy  lor  such  a 

grief ; 
And  simple  faith  and  work,  with  charity  from  friends,  soon  sent  him 

aid. 
And  we  have  the  locomotive  steam  stone  rollers  running  along  the 

road-bed. 
There  is  scarcely  one  cottage  family  left  but  Thomas  Farrar's,  people 

say, 
And  omnibus  and  loaded  wagons  rattle  over  the  gray  Tilford  rocks 

enough  to  raise  the  dead, 
And  the  railroad  cars  have  long  stopped  to  land  us  at  the  dock  near 

Stryker's  Bay  ; 

And  the  churches  are,  except  St.  Michael's,  looking  up  for  keeps  ; 
The  farmers  all  are  selling  out  and  turning  out  from  their  household 

beams, 

To  seek  their  fortunes  for  their  products  as  far  as  Oyster  Bay  heaps. 
Ten  thousand  changes  have  come  over  the  spirit  of  our  dreams. 
The  old  have  left,  the  new  old-folks  seem  to  dwell  strange  and  wide 

apart. 

And  all  the  houses  of  the  first  owners  or  their  tenants  gaunt. 
Society,  between  the  running  of  daily  stages,  is  bound  daily  for  the 

mart, 
And  no  one  knows  about  his  neighbors  who  do  not  leave  the  haunt. 


"  MON  REP  OS."  tjc 

The  barrooms  are  increased,  and  the  clubs  so  few  and  far  between 

in  round, 
That  the  signs  are  not  painted  fresh  from  the  absence  of  repeated 

calls. 

Who  can  find  relief  in  all  the  dwellers  of  the  city  more  easily  found, 
Without  the  expense  of  carriage  hire,  from  the  convenience  of  the 

meters  walls  ? 
When  gas  was  given  here  it  was  only  meant  for  the  street  lamp's 

ground. 
But   one   favored   citizen   found  us  without  one  day  in  a  corner  of 

darkness, 

And  brought  the  metre  up  as  far  as  the  life  of  the  nearest  garden  gate  ; 
So  thankful  are  we  for  all  favors  had,  from  one  Supervisor  friend's  re 
dress, 
We  hope  some  day  to  recompense  him,  when  we  hope  it  won't  be  too 

late. 

There  is  one  peculiar  fact  omitted,  which  is  uncommon  to  the  univer 
sal  whole 
Families  of  the  human  race,  which  is,  that  funerals  have  taken  place  in 

front  of  our  doors, 
When  the  Angels  of  Death  entered  the  mansion  and  stole  irresistably 

away. 
Quite   recently  two   burial   cases,  which  are  now  covered  with  the 

snow. 
In  other  years  two  others  were  placed  in  the  same  cemetery  within 

the  same  days, 
So  now  there  are  four  that  sleep  together  in  the  same  tomb  at  Trini- 

ty's  ground, 

Where  their  bodies  are  still  laying  with  the  same  grave-yard  they  laid, 
Whence  they  will  rest  till  the  resurrection,  when  the  trumpet  shall 

sound. 


5  6  "  MON REPOSE 

And  these  dead  shall  surely  come  to  life  again,  and  be  quickened  in 
deed  ; 
For  we  are  convinced  by  the  rising  of  our  own  dear  Lord  from  the 

tomb. 
F»or  death  is  not  the  gloomy  mystery,  but  the  dawn  of  thy  birth  is  the 

glory  of  heaven  indeed, 
And  this  fact  was  well  witness'd  by  the  Angels,  that  sealed  this  birth 

in  the  womb. 

How  the  Lord  had  declared  it — when  he  rose  we  were  born, 
And  the  image  of  Death  is  a  crown  of  jewels  in  glory  and  gold  ; 
We,  children  of  Heaven,  were  forced  to  be  blessed.     For  all  good  is 

corn, 

And  without  the  impress  and  seal  of  a  Bread  that  is  leaven  and  bliss, 
And  the  seed  of  the  martyrs  who  died  sown  in  their  blood, 
Clear'd  the  church  of  much  fog,  and  sets  this  truth  with  a  kiss. 
"  Old  friends,  old  scenes,  will  lovelier  be, 
As  more  of  Heaven  in  each  we  see  ; 
Some  softening  gleam  of  love  and  prayer, 
Shall  dawn  on  every  cross  and  care." — Keblc* 


LECTURE    ON 

SPRINGS  &  FOUNTAINS. 


the  time  "when  Light  first  burst  effulgent 
from  the  realms  of  chaos,  and  life  and  animation 
from  the  depths  of  Erebus,  mankind  have  yielded 
a  spontaneous  and  superstitious  adoration  to  the  mystic 
charms  of  lakes,  rivers,  rills,  and  fountains. 

The  ancients  believed  the  Earth  to  be  an  extended 
plain,  with  a  mighty  river  flowing  around  it.  This  broad 
and  deep  current  they  called  Oceanus  or  the  Ocean,  of 
which  the  overflowing  Nile  was  supposed  to  be  a  part. 

On  the  bank  of  this  River  were  located  the  abodes  of 
the  dead,  the  islands  of  the  blessed,  and  westward,  in  par 
ticular  the  sweet  fields  of  Elysium,  fanned  by  gentle 
zephyrs. 

The  sun,  moon  and  stars  were  supposed  to  have  their 
habitation  in  these  waters,  both  to  rise  and  set  in  the 
same,  and  to  leave  their  abode  temporarily  to  minister  to 
the  wants  of  man. 


58  LECTURE    ON 

As  the  sun  was  found  to  be  the  genial  source  of  light 
and  heat,  and  the  moon  of  moisture,  giving  life  to  vegeta 
tion,  these  two  objects  were  soon  worshiped  in  Egypt, 
under  the  name  of  Osiris  and  Isis.  The  one  was  granting 
life  and  heat  by  his  flaming  rays  to  all,  the  other  as  the 
nourishing  mother  of  all. 

Among  the  early  Greeks,  too,  the  salutary  and  benefi 
cent  powers  of  Nature  were  thus  personified  to  such  a 
degree,  that  in  all  the  phenomena  of  ordinary  nature 
they  fancied  they  saw  some  manifestation  of  the  Deity. 
Hence  springs,  rivers,  and  all  waters,  as  well  as  living 
vegetables,  became  the  embodiment  of  so  many  divine 
agents,  and  accordingly  were  peopled  with  Nymphs 
almost  innumerable,  but  yet  of  different  orders. 

These  Nymphs  were  thought  to  be  endowed  with  pro 
phetic  powers,  to  inspire  men  with  the  same,  to  confer 
upon  them  the  gift  of  poetry,  and  ability  to  heal  a  great 
variety  of  diseases. 

It  will  be  the  object  of  this  Lecture  to  point  out  some 
of  the  more  remarkable  waters,  medicinal  and  otherwise, 
in  time  past,  connected  as  they  have  been  with  the 
observations  and  superstitions  of  mankind. 

Early  historians  relate  that  about  Tarbelli,  a  town  in 
Guinne,  or  Bayonne  in  France,  and  also  in  the  Pyrenean 
hills,  that  springs  both  hot  and  cold  were  found  to  boil 
up  so  near  together,  that  there  seemed  to  be  no  distance 
between  them  ;  that  other  places  yielded  waters,  com 
fortably  warm  and  suitable  for  the  cure  of  many  diseases, 
as  if  (continues  the  historian)  nature  had  set  them  apart 


SPRINGS   AND   FOUNTAINS.  59 

for  the  good  of  man  only,  and  no  other  living  creature 
beside. 

To  these  fountains,  so  medicinal,  there  was  ascribed 
some  divine  power,  inasmuch  as  they  gave  names  unto 
sundry  gods  and  goddesses,  also  to  such  cities  as  Puteoli, 
Aurelia,  Aquensis,  Callidae  Fontes-Aquae  Sextiae,  and 
others.  But  in  no  country  were  found  springs  more 
celebrated  than  in  the  Vale  of  Bajanus,  in  the  realm  of 
Naples,  where  there  were  some  charged  with  sulphur, 
others  with  alum,  some  issuing  from  veins  of  salt,  others 
yielding  nitre,  some  evolving  bitumen,  and  others  both 
acid  and  saline. 

Here  was  the  Fountain  of  Posideanus,  so  hot  as  to 
cook  viands  for  the  table.  Here,  too,  were  the  famous 
Licinian  Springs,  boiling  up  beautifully  from  underneath 
the  sea.  These  several  springs,  we  are  informed,  were 
sovereign  remedies  for  the  infirmities  of  the  sinews,  for 
gout  in  the  feet,  for  rheumatism,  dislocation  of  joints, 
fractures  of  bones,  dyspepsia,  healing  of  wounds  and 
ulcers,  as  well  as  for  the  accidents  of  the  head  and  ears. 

But  among  the  most  distinguished  of  these  springs 
were  those  bearing  the  name  of  Cicero,  called  Ciceroni- 
ana ;  possessing  extraordinary  properties  for  clearing 
the  sight,  and  enlightening  the  eyes. 

It  was  here  on  the  sea  side,  on  the  great  road  leading 
from  Lake  Avernus  to  Puteoli,  that  Cicero  built  his 
summer-house  and  study  in  a  most  beautiful  grove. 
This  beautiful  villa  he  adorned  with  galleries,  porches, 
walks,  and  alleys,  and  named  it  Academia,  in  memory  of 


60  LECTURE    ON 

the  Academia  of  Plato,  on  the  River  Cephisus,  six  stadia 
from  Athens. 

It  was  here  that  Cicero  wrote  his  books  entitled 
"  Academia  Quaestionus"  and  caused  his  own  sepulchre 
to  be  built,  thereby  modestly  declaring  to  the  world,  that 
he  did  not  expect  immortality  from  his  writings. 

On  the  death  of  Cicero,  this  lovely  estate  came  into 
possession  of  Antistius  Vetus,  a  nobleman  of  Rome,  and 
suddenly  after  his  decease,  in  front  of  his  late  resi 
dence,  the  above  hot  fountains,  so  healthful  to  the  eyes, 
burst  forth,  as  was  supposed  by  divine  agency. 

On  the  occurrence  of  this  marvellous  event,  Laurea 
Tullus,  who  had  been  a  slave  of  Cicero,  but  at  length 
received  his  freedom,  in  affection  to  his  late  master, 
struck  as'  it  were  by  the  inspiration  of  the  divinity  or 
nymph  of  the  fountain,  composed  the  following  beautiful 
lines,  which  were  legibly  engraved  on  a  Tablet  set  up 
over  the  Springs. 

Quo  tua  Romans  vindex  clarissima  linguae 
Sylva  loco  melius,  surgere  jussa  viret 
Atque  Academise  celebratam  nomine  villam. 
Nunc  reparat  cultus  sub  potiore  Vetus. 
Hie  etiam  apparent  lymphse  non  ante  repertae. 
Lanquida  quse  infuso  lumina  rore  levant : 
Nimirum  locus  ipse  sui  Ciceronis  honor! 
Hoc  dedit,  hac  fontes  cum  patefecit  ope 
Ut  quoniam  totium  legitur  sine  fine  per  Orbem 
Sint  plures  oculis  quae  medeantur  aquae."  t 


SPRINGS   AND   FOUNTAINS.  6l 

Of  this  touching  inscription  Dr.  Holland  has  given  the 
following  translation  : 

"  O  Prince  of  Roman  Eloquence,  lo  !  here  thy  grove  in  place, 
How  green  it  is  where  planted  first  it  was  to  grow  apace. 
And  Vetus  now,  who  holds  thy  house,  fair  Academia  hight, 
Spares  for  no  cost,  but  it  maintains  and  keeps  in  better  plight ; 
Of  late  also  fresh  fountains  here  broke  forth  out  of  the  ground, 
Most  wholesome  to  bathe  sore  eyes,  which  erst  were  never  found. 
These  helpful  springs  the  soil  no  doubt  presenting  to  our  view, 
To  Cicero,  her  ancient  lord,  hath  done  this  honor  clue, 
That  since  his  books  throughout  the  world  are  read  by  many  a 

wight, 
More  waters  still  may  clear  their  eyes  and  cure  defective  sight." 

In  Campania  the  fountains  of  Sinuessa  cured  men  of 
lunacy  and  madness,  and  in  the  volcanic  island  of 
Aenaria  (now  Ischia),  there  existed  a  spring  of  such  acid 
qualities  as  actually  to  dissolve  stone  in  the  bladder,  and 
another  very  cold  spring,  possessing  the  same  proper 
ties,  was  resorted  to  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  country 
of  the  Sidicins,  four  miles  from  Teanum.  Those  who 
drank  of  the  water  of  Lake  Velinus  experienced  the  same 
effect. 

Varro  mentions  a  spring  of  this  virtue  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  Taurus  and  Calimachus,  a  river  of  the  same 
operation  in  Phrygia,  but  of  the  waters  of  this  river, 
if  patients  drank  over  a  certain  quantity,  they  were 
driven  to  madness. 

Ctesias  reports  the  same  of  the  Red  fountain  in 
Ethiopia. 


62  LECTURE    ON 

The  tepid  waters  near  Rome,  called  Albulse,  healed 
wounds,  and  the  very  cold  springs  among  the  Sabines, 
called  cutilse,  were  remarkable  for  purifying  the  blood 
and  giving  tone  to  the  S)rstem.  Varro  again  reports  that 
Titius  Lord  Praetor  was  cured  of  the  loathsome  disease, 
leprosy,  by  bathing  in  the  Lake  Alphion.  We  learn 
from  a  letter  written  by  Cassius  the  Parmezan  to  Mark 
Anthony,  that  the  river  Cydnus  in  Cilicia  was  very 
effectual  in  curing  the  gout,  while  the  waters  about 
Troezan  on  the  Saronic  Gulf,  were  sure  to  produce  gout 
and  other  diseases  of  the  feet. 

Cicero,  in  his  Admiranda  or  Book  of  Wonders,  states 
that  the  waters  of  the  Reatean  Marshes  were  remarkable 
for  hardening  the  hoofs  of  horses.  Eudicus  reports  that 
in  Thessaly  there  were  two  springs,  one  named  Geron, 
and  that  if  sheep  drank  of  the  waters  of  this  spring,  they 
were  turned  black.  The  other  spring  was  named  Melas, 
and  if  black  sheep  drank  of  that  spring,  they  were  turned 
white  ;  and  that  if  the  same  sheep  drank  of  both  springs, 
they  became  speckled. 

Theophrastus  also  reports  that  both  cattle  and  sheep 
that  drank  of  the  River  Crathis,  in  Lower  Italy,  were 
made  white  and  delicate,  whereas  the  water  of  the  Sybyris 
gave  them  a  black  hue  ;  and  moreover,  the  same  differ 
ence  was  noted  among  the  inhabitants  of  that  country. 
In  Macedonia  those  that  would  have  white  cattle,  drove 
them  to  drink  at  the  Aliacon,  and  those  that  wished  for 
brown  or  black  cattle,  drove  them  to  the  River  Axius  ; 
and  further,  that  those  two  waters  affect  even  the  colol 


SPRINGS   AND    FOUNTAINS.  63 

of  the  vegetables  growing  on  their  banks  in  like  man 
ner. 

In  Boeotia,  near  the  Temple  of  Trophonius,  were  two 
fountains;  one  that  exceedingly  helped  the  memory, 
while  the  other  caused  oblivion.  Varro  speaks  of  a  river 
in  Cilicia,  near  Crescum,  the  drinking  of  whose  waters 
made  people  far  more  witty  than  before.  At  Chios  was  a 
spring  that  caused  despondency,  and  another  at  Zamia, 
in  Africa,  that  gave  a  clear,  shrill  voice.  If  a  man  drank 
of  the  water  of  Lake  Clitonus,  he  lost  all  relish  for  wine, 
because  (as  Theopompus  says)  it  made  all  drunk  that 
used  it. 

Polyclitus  describes  a  fountain  in  Cilicia,  whose  fluid 
proved  a  substitute  for  oil,  and  Theophrastus  another  of 
like  quality  in  Ethiopia.  Lycus  reports  a  similar  spring 
in  India,  used  for  lamps,  and  yet  another  at  Ecbatane,  the 
capital  of  Media. 

In  Phrygia,  near  the  town  of  Celsenae,  were  two 
springs,  one  of  which  is  said  by  Theophrastus  to  pro 
duce  laughing,  and  the  other  weeping,  and  that  they 
were  so  named  accordingly. 

Ctesias  speaks  of  a  Pool  in  India,  in  which  nothing 
will  swim,  but  all  sinks  to  the  bottom,  and  Coelius  re 
ports  the  same  of  leaves  that  fall  into  Lake  Avernus. 
But  in  the  Lake  Apuscidamus  in  Africa,  the  water  is  so 
dense  that  nothing  will  sink.  The  same  has  been  re 
ported  of  the  well  of  Saturn  in  Media. 

Pliny  reports  a  river  in  Bythinia,  by  the  temple  of 
Bryazus,  the  drinking  of  whose  waters  was  sure  to  detect 


54  LECTURE    ON 

a  perjured  person,  by  creating  internal  inflammation,  and 
also  states  that  the  three  sources  of  the  great  river  Tam- 
aricus  in  Spain,  were  endued  with  the  secret  virtue  to 
presage  and  foretell  future  events.  These  fountains 
ceased  to  flow  and  became  dry  at  least  three  times  a  day, 
notwithstanding  a  spring  near  by  flowed  without  inter 
mission. 

If  persons  visited  these  fountains  and  found  them 
flowing,  good  fortune  was  supposed  to  attend  them,  and 
on  the  contrary  if  found  dry,  as  was  especially  noted  in 
the  visit  of  Lartius  Licinius,  Lord  Praetor  and  Lieuten- 
ant-General  under  the  Consuls.  Indudea,  a  small  river, 
was  said  to  omit  flowing  regularly  every  Sabbath  day. 

Ctesias  reports  a  river  in  Armenia  abounding  with 
fishes,  but  if  any  person  ate  of  those  fishes  they  died 
very  soon  afterward.  The  same  was  said  to  happen  to 
all  who  ate  of  the  fishes  of  the  extreme  head  waters  of 
the  Danube.  The  same  was  said  surely  to  happen  to  all 
who  ate  of  the  fishes  in  the  Pool  of  the  Nymphs  in  Lydia. 

Pliny,  in  his  Natural  History,  relates  that  in  Arcadia 
near  to  the  River  Peneus,  a  water  floweth  out  of  the 
rocks  called  Styx,  so  corrosive  and  pungent  that  it  would 
eat  its  way  through  all  vessels  containing  it  except  the 
hoof  of  a  mule.  Theophrastus  states  that  fishes  lived  in 
the  water  of  the  Styx,  as  deadly  as  the  water.  Theo- 
pompus  describes  the  waters  of  Thrace  called  Cropsos, 
which  killed  those  that  drank  thereof.  Lycus  also  men 
tions  a  fountain  among  the  Leontines,  of  which  if  peo 
ple  drank  they  died  within  three  days. 


SPRINGS   AND    FOUNTAINS.  65 

Near  the  hill  of  Soracte  (says  Varro),  there  was  a  boil 
ing  fountain  four  feet  in  diameter:  this  water  was  well 
tasted,  but  many  animals  and  particularly  birds,  that 
drank  thereof,  died  upon  'the  spot.  A  very  cold  spring 
of  this  description  existed  at  Nouacris  in  Arcadia. 

In  the  beautiful  Vale  of  Tempe,  in  Thessaly,  was  a 
fearful  spring  that  rapidly  consumed  brass  and  iron. 

In  Macedonia,  near  the  Tomb  of  Euripides  the  Poet, 
two  rivers  flowed  together.  The  one  most  wholesome 
to  drink,  the  other  noisome  and  deadly.  Anciently  there 
were  found  cold  petrifying  waters  in  Troas,  and  hot 
petrifying  springs  in  Dehum  Eubcea.  At  Eurymenae  in 
Thessaly,  was  a  well  that  petrified  all  chaplets  and  gar 
lands  thrown  into  it.  (The  same  is  seen  at  the  present 
day  in  the  cave  at  Matlock  in  Derbyshire). 

At  Colossee  in  Phrygia,  was  a  river  into  which  the  in 
habitants  put  unburned  bricks  and  tiles  to  make  them 
hard  instead  of  burning  them.  In  the  famous  caves  of 
Corycia,  the  drops  of  water  percolating  through  the  roof 
congealed  into  stalactites  like  icicles.  There  was  a  won 
derful  exhibition  of  this  nature  at  Meza  in  Macedonia, 
where  gigantic  staL.ctites  were  suspended  from  the 
vaulted  roofs  of  caverns.  At  the  fountain  of  Juno  in 
Mesopotamia,  the  water  was  said  to  have  a  very  agreea 
ble  odor,  and  to  retain  its  pleasant  odor  some  time  after 
it  was  taken  from  the  spring. 

The  celebrated  "  Flumen  Oblivionis"  or  river  of  for- 
getfulness— the  Lethe  of  the  ancients,  flowed  in  the 
channel  of  the  river  Limea  (now  called  Lima),  in  the 


66  LECTURE    ON 

western  part  of  Spain.  It  obtained  the  name  of  Lethe 
because  a  party  of  Celts  on  a  warlike  expedition,  by 
drinking  of  its  waters  wandered  away,  lost  their  com- 
mander,  and  even  forgot  the  object  of  their  expedition. 
The  legend  was  afterward  so  generally  believed,  that 
Brutus  Gallaicus  with  great  difficulty  led  his  army  over 
this  water  when  he  invaded  Gallacia,  B.  C.  136. 

From  this  and  like  circumstances  relating  to  the  trib 
utary  of  the  Meander  in  Ionia,  and  the  stream  identified 
with  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides  sprung  the  Lethean 
fables,  in  the  same  manner  that  Lucian  founded  his  dia 
logues  of  the  dead  on  the  river  Styx,  after  Antipater  at 
tempted  to  poison  Alexander  with  its  waters. 

But  of  all  fountains  on  record,  none  was  considered  so 
extraordinary  and  wonderful  as  the  Fons  Solis  or  Foun 
tain  of  the  Sun,  described  by  Strabo,  Herodotus  and 
Diod  Sic,  and  situated  in  a  beautiful  grove  under  the 
walls  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon  in  the  Great 
Lybian  Desert.  It  was  called  "  Oraculum  Hammonis" 
twelve  days  from  Cairo,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles 
from  the  Mediterranean  inland.  During  the  middle  ages 
it  was  called  Santariah,  and  now  by  the  Arabs,  Siwah. 

The  plain  or  valley  surrounding  this  remarkable  spring 
is  described  as  fifteen  miles  long,  twelve  broad,  and  two 
hundred  feet  higher  than  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  sur 
rounded  with  a  circle  of  limestone  hills  so  as  effectually 
to  protect  from  the  shifting  sands  of  the  desert. 

Here  numerous  springs  broke  out  both  fresh  and 
saline,  the  fertility  surpassed  description,  and  the  whole 


SPRINGS   AND    FOUNTAINS.  67 

Oasis  was  literally  a  green  island  as  it  were,  deluged  with 
vegetation,  and  yet  in  an  ocean  of  sand.  The  latitude  is 
twenty-nine  degrees  north,  so  that  the  sun  in  summer 
was  nearly  vertical. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  water  in  the  fountain  was  that 
it  was  moderately  warm  at  sunrise  and  gradually  grew 
colder  till  noon,  when  it  was  of  icy  coldness.  Then  the 
temperature  began  to  rise  and  went  on  increasing  till 
midnight,  when  it  was  boiling  hot.  Afterwards  the  heat 
moderated  so  that  at  sunrise  it  was  warm  as  before. 

The  mystery  of  this  fountain,  so  wonderful  and  inex 
plicable  to  the  ancients,  is  easily  solved  by  the  aid  of 
geological  investigation  and  the  principles  of  hydrosta 
tics.  The  Oasis,  as  we  have  before  said,  was  surrounded 
by  limestone  hills,  which  in  all  probability,  as  usual  con 
tained  numerous  subterranean  caverns.  These  caves 
would  give  rise  to  intermitting  or  syphon  springs  similar 
to  those  now  found  in  the  limestone  valleys  of  Virginia 
and  Kentucky.  The  cave  in  the  hillside  would  be  filled 
slowly  by  innumerable  capillary  tubes,  set  together  in 
the  form  of  a  strainer,  while  when  full  its  body  of  watei 
would  be  discharged  through  one  channel  or  opening  in 
half  the  time  required  for  filling  it.  Here  then  were  two 
syphon  springs  intermitting  alternately,  one  hot,  the 
other  cold,  both  discharging  their  waters  from  the  same 
outlet  on  the  surface.  At  noon  the  cold  one  alone 
flowed,  while  the  hot  one  was  filling,  while  at  midnight 
the  hot  one  alone  flowed,  and  the  cold  cask  or  cavern 
was  being  filled  ;  in  the  intermediate  time  their  waters 


68  LECTURE    ON 

were  commingled,  and  the  temperature  graduated  accord 
ingly.  | 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  both  cold  and  hot  springs  to 
rise  out  of  the  ground  in  juxtaposition.  The  hot  springs 
of  Virginia  rise  out  of  limestone  rock,  and  while  you 
may  scald  one  hand  in  the  hottest  of  these  springs,  you 
may  hold  the  other  at  the  same  time  in  a  spring  painfully 
cold.  Now  if  these  springs  intermitted  alternately,  as 
many  springs  do  in  limestone  districts  by  bringing  them 
into  one  channel,  the  same  effect  would  be  produced  at 
the  hot  springs  in  Virginia  as  in  the  Oasis  of  the  Lybian 
Desert. 

We  will  now  leave  the  mystic  fountains  of  the  ancients 
with  their  retinue  of  nymphs  and  sybils,  in  order  to  de 
scribe  those  of  more  modern  date,  which,  notwithstand 
ing  the  light  of  science  and  civilization,  are  still  clothed 
with  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  blind  supersti 
tion. 

!  There  are  at  this  time  in  the  western  district  of  Eng 
land,  a  large  number  of  wells  and  springs,  and  at  least 
ten  or  twelve  in  Wales,  all  of  which  are  supposed  to  pos 
sess  extraordinary  virtues.  These  are  identified  with  as 
many  wonderful  saints,  and  their  marvellous  effects  are 
still  conspicuous  in  working  miracles,  healing  diseases, 
as  well  as  conferring  domestic  authority  upon  husband 
or  wife,  who  shall  first  drink  of  their  waters  after  the 
solemnization  of  marriage. 

At  the  well  of  St.  Enny  in  Cornwall,  women  assemble 
on  Holy  Thursday,  and  throw  pins  into  theclear  water, 


SPRINGS   AND    FOUNTAINS.  69 

observing  how  the  heads  and  points  lay,  for  thereby  in 
their  belief,  their  future  fortune  is  determined. 

On  other  particular  days,  people  collect  at  St.  Madern's 
well  near  Penzance,  and  stimp  upon  the  ground,  believ 
ing  their  fate  to  be  determined  by  the  bubbles  that  rise 
in  consequence. 

Bishop  Hall,  in  his  "Mysteries  of  Godliness,"  has  des 
canted  largely  on  the  virtues  of  this  well,  and  the  popu 
lar  belief  in  its  efficacy  has  by  no  means  ceased,  for  here 
cripples  still  are  cured  by  its  oracular  waters,  but  in  all 
cases  according  to  the  measure  of  faith  in  the  invalid. 

Another  spring  or  well  in  the  same  neighborhood  is 
dedicated  to  St.  Keyne,  near  to  a  church  of  the  same 
patron  saint. 

This  well  not  only  possesses  wonderful  healing  proper 
ties,  but  is  sure  to  give  undisputed  authority  to  husband 
or  wife,  who  first  drinks  of  it  after  being  married  at  St. 
Keyne's  Church.  Carew  in  his  Poem  says  of  this  well : 

''  The  quality  that  man  or  wife, 
Whose  chance  or  choice  attains 
First  of  this  sacred  stream  to  drink, 
Thereby  the  mastery  gains." 

Ot  iate  years  the  young  brides  have  learned  to  outwit 
their  husbands  by  carrying  a  bottle  of  the  water  to  the 
church,  so  as  to  drink  immediately  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  ceremony. 

If  from  Cornwall  now  we  proceed  to  Wales,  we  shall 
find  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Isle  of  Barri,  off  Cardiff 


70  LECTURE    ON 

a  beautiful  clear  spring,  where,  as  at  St.  Enny  in  Corn« 
wall,  women  assemble  on  Holy  Thursday,  and  after  wash- 
ing  their  eyes  in  the  clear  water,  drop  pins  into  the 
spring  to  determine  their  future  good  or  ill  success. 

The  well  of  St.  Beuno  was  for  a  long  time  noted  for 
curing  the  rickets  and  other  maladies,  but  it  has  of  late 
given  place  to  the  still  more  remarkable  well  or  fountain 
of  St.  Winnifred,  which  is  reckoned  among  the  seven 
wonders  of  Wales. 

This  well  gushes  impetuously  from  a  rock  at  the  foot 
of  a  hill,  and  is  covered  with  a  gothic  structure  of  great 
beauty,  said  to  have  been  erected  by  Margaret,  mother 
of  Henry  VII.  By  a  decree  in  Chancery  it  has  been 
thrown  open  to  the  public,  and  Catholics  resort  to  it,  be 
lieving  that  it  has  lost  none  of  its  legendary  virtues. 

A  pamphlet  published  to  substantiate  the  character  of 
this  supernatural  fountain  is  entitled  "Authentic  Docu 
ments,  relative  to  the  miraculous  cure  of  Winnefred 
White,  of  Wolverhampton,  at  Trefynnon  or  Holy  Well, 
Flintshire,  on  28th  June,  1805,  with  Observations  thereon 
by  J.  M.,  etc,,  etc." 

Two  festivals  are  observed  here,  one  in  memory  of  the 
martyrdom  of  St.  Winnefred,  on  the  22d  of  June,  and 
another  for  her  translation  to  heaven,  on  the  3d  of  No 
vember.  The  water  passes  through  an  arch  into  a  square 
court,  where  devotees  were  accustomed  to  swim  as  an 
act  of  penance. 

The  origin  of  the  well  is  quite  as  miraculous  as  its 
effects.  Saint  Winnefred  was  the  beautiful  daughter  of 


SPRINGS   AND    FOUNTAINS.  71 

a  Welsh  nobleman  named  Thewith,  and  niece  of  St. 
Bueno.  She  obtained  leave  of  her  father  to  found  a 
Church  here,  and  having  made  a  vow  of  perpetual  chasti 
ty,  was  taken  under  the  especial  patronage  of  St.  Buenc 
Caradog,  a  young  Prince,  son  of  King  Alen,  admiring  her 
beauty,  went  one  Sunday  morning  after  her  father  and 
mother  had  gone  to  church,  to  ask  her  hand  in  marriage. 
Instead  of  giving  him  an  answer,  she  runs  on  the  hill 
side  for  the  church  :  Caradog  pursues,  and  on  receiving 
from  Winnefred  a  decided  refusal,  was  so  enraged  that  he 
drew  his  sword  and  cut  off  her  head  at  a  blow.  As  the 
story  goes,  Caradog  fell  dead  on  the  spot,  and  was  never 
seen  after.  Winnefred's  head  rolled  down  the  hill  to  the 
altar  where  the  congregation  were  kneeling,  and  there 
stopping,  the  fountain  immediately  gushed  up.  St. 
Beuno  caught  up  her  head  and  joined  it  to  the  body, 
which  immediately  reunited,  the  place  of  separation  be 
ing  marked  only  by  a  white  line  around  the  neck.  The 
sides  of  the  well  were  thenceforth  covered  with  a  sweet- 
scented  moss,  and  the  stones  at  the  bottom  became 
tinctured  with  her  blood.  She  survived  decapitation 
fifteen  years,  and  having  received  a  veil  from  St.  Elerius, 
to  hide  the  scar  upon  her  neck  and  protect  her  beauty 
against  vulgar  gaze,  became  Abbess  of  a  Monastry  in 
Derbyshire,  and  there  died. 

On  her  decease  the  well,  of  course,  became  endowed 
with  many  miraculous  properties. 

With  all  due  deference  to  Romish  tradition  (says  Rev. 
Mr.  Nicholson),  the  sweet  scented  moss  is  found  to  be 


72  LECTURE    ON 

nothing  more  than  the   Jungermania  Asplenoides,  well 
known  in  Botany,  and  the  supposed  tincture  of  her  blood 
on  the  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  Byssus  iolithus  of  Lin-' 
nseus  and  the  Lepraria  iolithus  of  Smith. 

The  devotees  of  the  saint  were  formerly  very  numer 
ous,  but  of  late  have  somewhat  diminished,  leaving  their 
crutches  and  hand-barrows  among  the  ornaments  that 
adorn  the  Gothic  roof. 

This  wonderful  spring,  of  which  Horace  would  say  : 
"O  Fous  splendidior  vitro,v  discharges  at  least  eighty- 
four  hogsheads  per  minute,  never  freezes  or  scarcely 
varies  in  drought  or  the  greatest  rains. 

Thus  we  see  how  wily  superstition  throws  her  chains 
and  fetters  around  mankind  in  the  use  of  one  of  the 
simplest  elements  of  life,  blinding  them  to  the  sight  of 
heaven  and  common  sense,  leading  reason  into  bewilder 
ment,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  revealing  through  the 
mists  of  ignorance  the  great  and  important  fact  that 
cleanliness  next  to  godliness  is  great  gain,  healing  most 
of  the  maladies  "life  is  heir  to." 

It  is  the  province  of  Chemistry  and  Philosophy  to 
strip  off  this  dark  mask  of  superstition  and  ignorance, 
and  to  show  mankind  what  this  essential  element  of 
water  really  is.  Not  mechanically,  as  in  the  broad  ocean 
where  it  is  the  handmaid  of  commerce  and  the  highway 
of  nations— not  in  the  large  rivers  where  it  becomes  the 
foundation  and  opulence  of  cities,  uniting  mankind  in  a 
great  scheme  of  Providence,  conveying  from  shore  to 
shore,  and  interchanging  from  town  to  town  the  produc- 


SPRINGS   AND    FOUNTAINS.  73 

tions  of  the  earth  ;  but  chemically  as  when  it  is  necessa 
rily  and  economically  regarded  as  the  common  food  of 
the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  chemically  and  phil 
osophically  as  it  becomes  connected  with  agriculture  and 
the  various  mechanic  arts,  as  in  its  elastic  state  of  steam 
it  propels  the  fleetest  ships,  drives  the  fiery  car,  and  in 
various  ways  performs  the  labor  of  half  the  human  race. 
Philosophically,  as  penetrating  the  atmosphere  and  cir 
culating  over  our  heads,  it  becomes  associated  with  the 
whole  doctrine  of  aerial  and  atmospheric  phenomena, 
forming  a  home  and  hiding-place  for  the  fierce  lightning, 
assisting  largely  in  painting  the  beautiful  scenery  of  the 
sky  in  the  economy  of  clouds  and  vapor,  yielding  alter 
nately  its  most  essential  nourishment  to  man  in  fertiliz 
ing  showers  and  the  gentle  dews  of  heaven  ;  and  finally, 
chemically,  as  a  universal  cleanser  and  purifier,  and  there 
by  rendered  the  most  appropriate  symbol  of  the  purity 
of  heart  and  life,  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord. 


TANNING 


KINS,  when  fresh,  are  soaked  eight  hours  in  run 
ning  water,  the  dry  ones  being  taken  out  every 
day  and  softened  on  the  leg.  Then  put  in  solution 
made  by  boiling  two  parts  wood  ashes  and  one  of  quick 
lime  ;  then  decanting  this  liquor  into  a  vat  and  diluting  it 
with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water,  grating  on  bottom  to 
keep  skins  from  the  ashes.  In  eight  days  hair  removed, 
then  scraped  with  round  knife,  then  tied  on  stick  and 
put  in  running  water  to  wash  off  ashes,  etc.  After 
three  days,  taken  out  and  washed  on  hair  side,  and  hung 
up  to  drain,  fleshed  and  trod  out  with  the  feet.  The 
smaller  skins  are  now  soaked  twenty-four  hours  in  a 
trough,  filled  with  a  mixture  of  fecula  canis  et  aqua 
therma,  then  taken  out,  cleansed,  rinsed,  and  macerated 
for  twenty-four  hours  in  bath  made  of  oatmeal  and  malt, 
then  deposited  in  tan  liquor  for  three  days,  then 
sprinkled  over  with  finely  powdered  oak  bark,  and  piled 
up  above  the  grating  of  the  vat,  which  is  filled  with 
equal  parts  of  water  and  tan  liquor.  The  small  ones 


76  TANNING. 

remain  in  this  for  eight  days,  the  larger,  longer.  After 
this,  taken  out,  rinsed,  trod  out,  fleshed,  put  back  in  vat, 
after  being  sprinkled  over  with  tan  powder  as  before. 
This  repeated  four  times,  last  time  left  in  vat  four  weeks, 
then  taken  out,  stretched  and  dried,  and  given  to  the 
currier  to  polish  and  color. 

RED  PRODUCED   FOR  ONE  HUNDRED   SKINS. 

Two  pounds  and  nine  ounces  of  alum  is  used  and 
eighteen  ounces  of  red  sandal  for  each  large  skin,  and 
nine  ounces  for  each  small  one.  The  skins  are  seweo 
around  in  small  stitches,  forming  sacks,  except  a  small 
opening  for  the  coloring  matter.  After  coloring,  var 
nished  with  birch  bark  and  whale  oil,  and  when  nearly 
dry,  subjected  to  the  grainer  or  cylinders  covered  with 
wire  or  spirally  grooved  ;  dried  and  sprinkled  with  hemp- 
seed  oil,  and  polished  on  the  horse. 

Lombardy  poplar  contains  3.12  per  cent,  tannin,  giv 
ing  an  odor  like  that  of  Russian  leather. 

The  leather  made  from  kid  and  lamb  skins  owes  its 
agreeable  odor  to  the  bark  of  the  willow  with  which  it  is 
tanned. 

ROTCH'S  PROCESS  OF  TANNING 

Is  causing  tanning  fluid  to  penetrate  one  side  while 
artificial  heat  causes  the  water  that  passes  through  the 
other  side  to  evaporate,  increasing  the  strength  of  the 
tan  in  the  leather,  and  preparing  leather  thereby  in  ten 
days,  which  would  otherwise  require  ten  months. 


TANNING.  77 

RUSSIAN   SKINS, 

When  ready  for  tanning,  are  put  in  a  warm  solution  of 
salix  cinerea  and  salix  caprea,  immersed  and  worked  in 
it  half  an  hour,  repeated  twice  daily  for  a  week,  then 
fresh  decoctions  another  week,  then  dried,  dyed  and 
oiled  with  birch,  etc. 

RUSSIAN   LEATHER. 

The  color  of  red  sandal  is  probably  put  on  with  a 
brush. 

MINERAL  TANNING.— Bordier's  Process. 

Digest  twenty-two  pounds  of  powdered  green  copperas 
with  two  and  a  quarter  pounds  nitric  acid,  Spe.  G.  1333, 
and  three  pounds  sulph.  acid,  in  large  stone  jars,  heated 
by  steam,  repeatedly  stirring  it  (avoiding  the  red  poison 
ous  fumes),  until  the  mixture  is  cold  and  pasty.  After 
twenty-four  hours,  dilute  with  water  q.  s.,  and  add 
freshly  prepared  hydrated  per  oxide  of  iron  in  excess, 
and  after  standing  four  days,  with  occasional  stirring,  is 
ready  for  tanning.  Per  oxide  of  manganese  may  be  used 
instead  of  nitric  acid. 

Soak  the  skins  in  this,  properly  diluted,  three  days  for 
thin  skins,  and  eight  days  for  sole  leather ;  sub  sulphate 
of  iron  is  absorbed— sulphuric  and  nitric  acids  remain  in 
the  mother  liquor. 

CAVALLIN'S  PROCESS. 

First  nacerate  the  skins  in  a  solution  of  alum  and 
chrome  salt,  then  in  a  solution  of  proto  sulphate  of  iron  ; 
reaction  and  interchange  of  elements  ensue,  so  that  the 


78  TANNING. 

compound  of  iron  and  chrome  unite  indissolubly  with 
the  tissue  of  the  hide  to  form  leather,  which  is  brown, 
tough,  compact,  and  after  much  soaking,  does  not  lump 
under  the  hammer.  The  hides  must  be  unhaired  by  lime, 
drenched  thoroughly,  rinsed  and  hung  up  to  drain  ; 
avoid  using  acids  in  any  way. 

Bath.  —  Dissolve  ten  pounds  bichromate  of  potash 
and  twenty  pounds  of  alum  in  180  pounds  of  water; 
immerse  for  four  days,  drawing  them  once  every  twenty- 
four  hours,  allowing  them  to  drain,  and  rubbing  them 
each  time  as  they  are  returned  to  the  bath,  and  keep  up 
the  strength  of  the  liquor  by  new  additions,  by  one  of 
chrome  and  two  of  alum. 

PROTO  SULPH.  IRON  BATH. 

Dissolve  ten  pounds  green  copperas  in  sixty  pounds 
of  cold  water,  suspend  the  skins  so  as  not  to  touch  each 
other,  and  draw  them  once  in  twelve  hours  and  return 
them  to  the  bath  sufficiently  to  complete  the  tanning. 
Upper  leathers  require  five  to  six,  Swedish  sole  eight 
to  ten,  and  American  butts  thirteen  to  nineteen  days' 
immersion  in  the  liquor.  The  strength  must  be  kept  up 
by  additions  of  copperas  throughout  the  treatment. 
Lastly,  take  them  out,  hang  up  and  drain  free  from  slimy 
matter;  soak  thoroughly  in  running  water,  so  as  to 
wash  out  all  saline  matter,  and  finish  in  usual  manner. 
Upper  leathers  made  in  this  way  are  said  to  be  supple 
and  soft, — is  blacked  by  Mordent  sat.  solution  of  alum, 
with  eight  parts  copperas,  and  then  rubbing  over  strong 


TANNING.  79 

decoction  of  logwood,  then  oiled  and  finished  in  usual 
manner. 

DYE   TANNING, 

Based  on  the  fact  that  gelatine,  dissolved,  in  a  decoction 
of  Brazil,  Heath,  or  Fernambogue  or  other  dye  wood,  is 
precipitated  as  an  insoluble  compound  on  the  addition 
of  a  little  chrome  salt.  First  immerse  in  a  solution  of 
alum  of  four  ounces  to  the  gallon  ,  or  rather  preparatory, 
immerse  in  a  dye  of  one  gallon  of  the  above  dye  with 
four  gallons  of  water  ;  must  be  frequently  stirred,  lie  in 
for  twelve  hours,  then  hung  up  till  nearly  dry,  then  laid 
in  the  strong  dye  and  stirred  three  or  four  times  a  day, 
till  dyed  through.  Then  hung  up  to  drain  before  putting 
in  the  chrome  bath  of  ten  pounds  bichromate  of  potash 
to  180  gallons  of  water  for  twenty-four  hours,  drawing 
them  and  allowing  to  drop  three  or  four  times,  then 
hung  up,  drained,  then  soaked  three  times  in  running 
water  for  twenty-four  hours. 

The  Bath  must  be  frequently  refreshed  by  additions  of 
chrome  salt.  Lastly,  put  in  the  drying  room,  stretched 
smooth,  blacked  and  oiled.  Sole  leather  needs  no 
stirring. 


CREATION. 


First  willed  and  said  "  Let  waters  be." 
Almighty  God,  the  Infinite, 
Then  willed  and  said  "Let  there  be  Light." 
Enkindled  flames  preceding  years 
Rolled  into  suns  and  moons  and  spheres  ! 
Matter  thus  formed  at  his  command 
Receives  its  motion  from  His  hand. 
Matter  thus  formed  from  nought  before  * 
Receives  its  impress  evermore. 
Throughout  the  vast  extended  space 
New  suns  are  formed  and  fixed  in  place, 
Till  systems  numerous  as  the  sand 
Move  all  harmonious  by  His  hand. 
Galaxies  vast  in  depth  and  height, 
Baptised  afresh  in  new-born  light, 


*  If  God  did  not  create  matter  from  nothing,  except  his  own  wil',  then  something 
besides  God  has  existed  from  Eternity,  or  otherwise  two  Eternals— an  absurdity. 


82  CREATION. 

Are  planted  in  the  depth  afar 
With  blazing  gems  in  every  star  ! 
While  ages  that  on  ages  rolled, 
In  numbers  more  than  can  be  told. 
More  clusters  into  being  came 
Than  I  am  able  here  to  name, 
Or  time  allow  me  to  rehearse, 
Upbuilding  God's  vast  universe. 

CREATIONS  ON  THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

On  the  bright  shore  of  Milky -way 
Bursts  forth  our  Sun,  blest  orb  of  day  ! 
And  circling  planets  round  him  shine 
Obedient  to  the  hand  Divine. 
Hence  as  an  offshoot  from  the  Sun 
Earth's  revolution  is  begun, 
But  cloudy  vapors  soon  divide. 
And  Earth  from  Sun  awhile  do  hide, 
Till  day  and  night  opposed  appear, 
And  Day  the  First  begins  the  Year. 

CREATIONS  ON  THE  SECOND  DAY  OF  OUR  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 
The  Waters  flow  on  every  side 
Till  God  the  waters  does  divide, 
When  beauty  to  our  World  is  lent, 
Encompassed  by  the  Firmament, 
To  let  bright  sunbeams  bear  the  sway 
And  thus  complete  the  Second  Day  ! 

CREATIONS  ON  THE  THIRD  DAY  OF  OUR  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 
The  mountains  now  their  heads  do  rear 
And  sunny  plains  at  length  appear, 


CREATION.  83 

The  clouds  are  scattered  by  the  breeze, 

And  waters  gather  into  seas  ; 

The  Grass  now  clothes  the  verdant  plain, 

Trees,  flowers,  and  fruits  and  waving  grain — 

Enchantingly  the  Earth  doth  sing 

The  Third  Day's  labor  of  her  King. 

CREATIONS  ON  THE  FOURTH  DAY  OF  THE  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

As  Time  must  have  its  destined  sway 
And  place  assigned  in  the  Fourth  Day, 
Sun,  Moon,  and  Stars  are  called  to  aid, 
And  thus  the  base  of  ages  laid 
For  our  Terrestial  Sphere  to  claim 
Its  own  duration  and  its  name. 

CREATIONS  ON  THE  FIFTH  DAY  OF  OUR  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

The  Waters  now  awake  to  life 
And  Fishes  swarm  in  playful  strife, 
Birds  crowd  the  air  with  rapid  wing, 
As  from  the  deep  huge  monsters  spring  ; 
The  Eagle  plumes  and  soars  away 
As  twilight  shuts  the  Fifth  long  Day. 

CREATIONS  ON  THE  SIXTH  DAY  OF  OUR  SOLAR  SYSTEM. 

The  Land  is  now  electrified, 

And  creatures  move  on  every  side  ; 

Of  Beasts,  all  sorts,  and  creeping  things— 

A  wondrous  herd  Sixth  Morning  brings 

Forth  on  Earth  their  powers  to  try, 

Both  to  increase  and  multiply. 


84  CREATION. 

CREATION  OF  MAN. 
Thus  far  Creation  is  confined 
To  various  structures  without  mind  ; 
But  now  God's  Spirit  breathes  from  heaven, 
And  life,  immortal  life,  is  given. 
A  thrill  through  all  creation  ran— 
Behold  !  the  wondrous  Being — Man  ! 
In  God's  own  image,  upright  made 
Of  all  on  earth  the  destined  head, 
With  mind  and  reason,  far  above 
The  animals  that  round  him  move. 
But  man  alone  unfinished  is— 
Some  one  to  share  his  sympathies — 
An  "  help  meet  "  needs  to  make  him  whole 
And  fill  the  measure  of  his  soul. 
He  lies  him  down  in  sleep  to  rest, 
Most  deeply  yearning  to  be  blest  : 
Again  God's  Spirit  breathes  from  heaven — 
From  his  own  breast  is  Woman  given. 
Both  now  are  one  in  heart  and  soul  ; 
Both  are  but  parts  of  one  great  whole  ; 
Each  made  to  serve  for  other's  good, 
Never  to  differ  if  they  would  ; 
In  virgin  sweetness  loving,  she 
Yields  unto  man  her  destiny — 
The  last  best  gift  to  man,  to  be 
In  innocence  and  purity — 
Creation's  climax — chief  of  all 
Organic  forms  on  earthly  ball. 
The  Sixth  day's  labor,  now  complete, 
The  Morning  Stars  their  songs  repeat ; 


CREATION 

Unnumbered  worlds  their  anthems  raise 
To  herald  their  Creator's  praise  ! 


THE  SEVENTH  DAY. 

'  The  Seventh  Day  morning  now  appears, 
Like  the  preceding  days  or  years, 
Consistent  with  those  gone  before, 
In  time  the  same— no  less,  no  more. 
Jehovah  lays  his  work  aside 
And  views  the  starry  heavens  spread  wide. 
Unnumbered  worlds  their  songs  employ- 
Unnumbered  beings  filled  with  joy — 
His  vast  domain  is  yet  untrod  ; 
O  what  a  vision  for  a  God  ! 
This  Seventh  Day's  most  divinely  blest- 
Jehovah's  day  for  holy  rest. 
Thrice  holy  hence  its  hours  let  be, 
In  worship  pure  and  charity, 
Till  all  Seventh  days,  to  man  thus  given, 
Prepares  his  soul  to  enter  heaven. 

GEOLOGICAL   INFIDELITY    IN    GOD'S    RECORD    OF 
CREATION. 

But  men  there  are  who  rise  and  say 
God's  eve  and  morning  mean  not  day, 
But  something  else  they  cannot  tell, 
And  thus  uphold  the  Infidel. 
How  low  their  views  of  God  must  be, 
Omnipotence  in  Deity  ! 


86  CREATION. 

How  little  know  the  powers  that  ply 
Through  ocean,  earth,  the  air,  the  sky  ; 
What  elements  convened  will  do, 
Jnstanter  working  wonders  new  ! 
Could  they  but  stand  aside  and  see 
The  handy  work  of  Deity — 
Magnetic  streams  the  mountains  form, 
Galvanic  piles  their  work  perform, 
Crystallic  forces,  early,  late, 
All  earth  at  once  precipitate  ; 
The  acids  seize  the  alkalies 
And  bubbling  effervescence  rise  ; 
The  mingling  gasses  rapidly 
Fill  the  vast  ocean  to  the  sky, 
To  cool  electric  streams  of  fire — 
How  would  they  wonder,  how  admire  ! 
Would  they  their  calculation  try 
And  find  how  races  multiply, 
By  doubling  each  quintuple  year 
A  strange  result  would  then  appear 
Of  shells  more  numerous  than  the  sand 
On  Ocean's  shore,  or  leaves  on  land  : 
E'en  in  the  years  before  the  flood, 
By  figures  sure  well  understood, 
In  twenty  years  now  let  us  see 
If  man  could  not  well  doubled  be. 
In  sixteen  hundred,  then  'tis  clear, 
A  billion  souls  on  earth  appear 
Before  the  flood  had  swept  away 
Said  billion  from  the  light  of  day. 


CREATION.  87 

Let  us  again  our  Bible  read 

And  to  its  word  give  special  heed  , 

On  this  quotation  thought  employ, 

"  Lo  !  Man  with  earth  will  I  destroy." 

— GEN.  vi.  13. 

THE  DELUGE. 

What  overturnings  must  have  been 
In  Earth's  destruction  for  Man's  sin  ! 
The  mountains  washed  quite  to  their  base, 
And  Ocean's  bed  much  changed  in  place, 
Volcanoes  opening  many  rents 
And  Earthquakes  lifting  Continents  ! 
Yet  these  men  say,  "  Improbable, 
Such  changes  are  too  notable  ; 
We  cannot  see  how  coal  was  made 
In  such  short  time  as  Moses  said, 
Or  great  fish-lizards  fill  the  seas 
Instead  of  whales  in  times  like  these, 
Or  big  bone  mammals  traverse  earth 
Posterior  to  old  Adam's  birth. 
We  do  believe  that  Nature  tells 
Of  countless  ages  in  the  shells, 
Of  ocean's  bed,  and  inland  bogs, 
Where  sported  once  huge  polywogs  ; 
And  goblins  danced  for  ages  more 
Ere  man  appeared  upon  the  shore. 
Long  time  it  took  for  trees  to  grow, 
Sufficient  for  the  coal  you  know  ; 
Then  must  they  sink  beneath  the  tide — 
Strange  sorts  of  fishes  o'er  them  ride  ; 


CREATION. 

And  some  of  them  yet  caught  within, 
For  now  behold  their  scales  are  seen. 
Then  sands  wash  on  to  form  the  stone, 
Used  now  for  building  hard  as  bone. 
As  fermentation  slow  goes  on, 
Long  time  it  takes  to  form  carbon. 
The  seam  then  comes  above  the  surf — 
Is  strewed  with  seeds  and  green  with  turf; 
Till  trees  again  the  whole  o'erspreads, 
When  down  they  go  to  form  new  beds. 
All  this  before  a  man  was  seen 
To  pluck  the  fruit  in  Eden  green. 
Now  by  the  single  rule  of  three, 
We  trace  each  coal-bed's  history. 
If  one  alone  such  time  requires, 
The  whole  no  less  than  myriad  years : 
But  then  the  cooling  we  forgot, 
Our  molten  world,  at  first  so  hot ; 
As  lava  cools  so  slow,  we  say, 
Millions   of  years  make  just  one  day. 
The  icebergs  then,  we  have  been  told, 
For  ages  chained  the  earth  in  cold — 
And  hence  it  is  well  understood 
That  afterwards  there  was  a  flood  ! 
What  ages  then  to  form  the  sand, 
Composing  rocks  in  New  Holland, 
Thousands  of  feet  in  thickness  laid, 
As  seen  from  sea  the  shoreland  head. 
Now  all  these  ages,  side  by  side. 
With  numbers  more  not  multiplied, 


CREA  TION.  89 

Shut  up  in  space  six  thousand  years — 

What  monstrous  folly  it  appears  ! 

The  Bible  Record,  thus  you  see, 

Is  not  considered  true  to  be" 

Had  these  men  seen  a  chicken  hatch 

In  some  lone  place  spread  o'er  with  thatch, 

They  would  conclude  quite  otherwise, 

With  ample  proof  before  their  eyes. 

From  one  cold  egg  all  this  is  done  — 

Blood  warmed  for  days  just  twenty-one. 

What  has  produced  the  change  they  see  ? 

Ah  !  the  galvanic  battery  ! 

With  this  addition,  to  be  sure, 

The  simple  rise  of  temperature. 

How  great  the  change  !  how  short  the  time  ! 

From  albumen,  the  yolk,  the  lime. 

Thus  much  effected  by  the  hen, 

In  countless  years  what  might  be  seen  ! 

Just  fourteen  elements  in  all 

Mature  the  chick  within  the  ball. 

Or  should  they  trial  make  with  clay, 

WTell  stirred  with  water  we  would  say, 

Let  stream  galvanic  through  it  run, 

Twelve  months  at  least  the  work  is  done  : 

'Tis  slate  upright,  without  dissent, 

As  proved  by  Hunt's  experiment. 

Should  they  another  trial  make 

With  sediment  from  some  mud  lake  : 

Let  stream  magnetic  flow  again, 

Two  kinds  of  rock  would  they  obtain — 


1)0  CREATION. 

Amorphous  one,  and  trap  beside, 
As  seen  in  hills  that  plains  divide. 
If  twelve  months'  time  doth  this  effect 
On  currents  vast,  let  us  reflect. 

FORMATION  OF  COAL. 

And  now  the  Coal-beds,  how  are  they 

Formed  from  vast  forests  swept  away  ? 

By  river  tides,  like  Amazon, 

Into  the  seas  with  sands  upon 

Them,  till  as  dough  from  baken  bread 

Yeast  fermentations  through  them  spread  I 

With  increased  heat  as  new  freights  come, 

When  ash  becomes  potassium — 

Carbonic  acid  present  then 

At  once  gives  up  its  oxygen, 

And  leaves  the  carbon  to  explain 

Each  kind  of  wood,  the  very  grain, 

Just  like  the  writing  on  a  note 

When  burnt  to  ash,  away  to  float. 

The  sifting  action  of  the  sea 

Gathers  the  sand  one  family  ; 

Also  the  iron,  clay,  and  lime, 

For  heat  to  harden  in  short  time, 

And  rise  to  light,  and  bloom  as  Eden, 

As  rises  now  the  coast  of  Sweden. 

GREAT  SANDSTONE  FORMATION  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

At  last  remain  the  banks  of  sand, 
Formed  into  stone  in  New  Holland, 


CREATION.  9* 


(On  this  vast  rock  great  pains  are  spent 
To  found  the  strongest  argument  ;) 
In  height  three  thousand  feet  or  more, 
Extending  far  the  island  o'er. 
In  explanation  of  this  fact 
Observe  volcanoes  how  they  act, 
Outpouring  lava  in  a  tide 
Into  the  ocean  far  and  wide, — 
Soon  as  saltwater  meets  the  stream 
We  then  behold  the  power  of  steam, 
Reducing  it  at  once  to  *  sand, 
Upfilling  vallies — forming  land. 
The  saline  steam  serves  a  cement 
In  building  this  new  continent  ; 
Northward  and  East  Australia 
Volcanoes  countless  wildly  play, 


*  The  great  eruptions,  a  lava  falling  into  the  sea  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  par 
ticularly  that  of  the  Volcano  Kilanea,  June  ist,  1840,  described  by  Rev.  Mr.  Ccwn, 
in  Missionary  Herald,  Vol.  37,  page  283.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  Rev. 
Titus  Gown's  letter:  "  Imagine  to  yourself  a  river  of  fused  minerals  of  the  breadth 
and  depth  of  Niagara,  and  of  a  deep  gory-red  falling  in  one  emblazoned  sheet,  one 
raging  torrent  into  the  ocean  !  The  scene  as  described  by  eye-witnesses  was  terribly 
sublime.  Two  mighty  agencies  in  collision.  Two  antagonistic  and  gigantic  forces  in 
contact  and  producing  effects  inconceivably  grand  !  The  atmosphere  in  all  directions 
was  filled  with  ashes,  spray,  gases,  etc.,  while  the  burning  lava  as  it  fell  into  the 
water  was  shivered  into  millions  of  minute  particles,  and  being  thrown  back  into  the 
air,  fell  in  showers  of  sand  on  all  the  surrounding  country.  The  coast  was  extended 
far  into  the  sea  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  a  pretty  sand  beach  formed.  Three 
hills  of  scoria  and  sand  were  also  formed  in  the  sea,  the  lowest  about  two  hundred 
feet,  and  the  highest  about  three  hundred  feet.  For  three  weeks  this  terrific  river 
discharged  itself  into  the  sea  with  little  abatement.  Multitudes  of  fishes  were  killed 
and  the  waters  of  the  ocean  were  heated  for  twenty  miles  a'ong  the  coast." 


CREATION. 

Evolving  molten  streams  of  fire 
From  'neath  the  sea  and  mountains  higher. 
These  streams  converted  into  sand, 
What  else  to  form  but  New  Holland  ?— 
To  rise  and  shine  like  other  lands, 
Though  mostly  formed  of  arid  sands. 

CONCLUSION. 

Now  in  conclusion  we  would  say 
A  few  more  words  on  Sabbath-day, 
To  those  who  think  the  seventh  not  past, 
And  countless  ages  yet  to  last. 
;  Their  logic  strange,  yet  quite  as  good 
As  that  they  use  ere  came  the  "Flood." 
If  the  seventh  day  is  yet  to  last — 
Who  can  remember  what's  not  past  ? 

Let  us  in  adoration  fall 

Before  Jehovah,  Lord  of  all, 

Nor  vex  ourselves  too  much  about 

His  wondrous  ways,  "past  finding  out." 

How  long  or  short  the  time  may  be, 

When  measured  by  eternity  ! 

Sufficient  for  us  all  to  know 

That  to  the  Judgment  we  must  go, 

Reap  the  reward  of  actions  here 

In  worlds  unknown  beyond  our  sphere, 

W'here  God's  Great  Laws  illumined  bright, 

Will  endless  shine  in  clearest  light. 

MOSES  OXYGEN. 
EDINBURGH,  May  31,  1866. 


THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 


OR  THE 


ALMIGHTY   DOLLAR. 


REEDOM  had  fled  from  Earth  with  bitter  tears, 
,.    Finding  no  spot  which  she  could  claim  as  hers : — 
Now  hail'd  by  men,  with  greetings  of  pure  joy, 
And  now  rejected  as  a  worthless  toy, 
Now  worship'd  and  rever'd  by  all  mankind, 
Now  torn  from  hearts  where  she  was  late  enshrin'd, 
She  saw  that  those,  who  by  her  care  she'd  bless 
With  all  things  that  insure  man's  happiness, 
Turn'd  from  her  shrine  of  pure  simplicity, 
Lur  d  by  the  golden  pomp  of  tyranny  ; 
And  gave  up  all  most  dear  for  man  to  own, 
To  bend  before  a  sceptre  and  a  throne. 


94  THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

Hopeless,  she  fled,  in  sad  despondency, 

And  wept  to  think  man  never  would  be  free. 

But  when  a  New  World  from  the  ocean  rose, 

Among  its  wilds  a  rugged  home  she  chose  : 

On  her  bright  mission  coming  yet  once  more, 

Beaming  with  hope,  she  lit  upon  our  shore, 

Resolv'd  to  strive  to  build,  across  the  sea, 

A  lasting  monument  to  Liberty, 

And  show  the  world  a  truth  of  high  intent— 

That  men  are  equal  to  self-government. 

See  the  result— though  but  of  recent  birth, 

We  stand  among  the  greatest  pow'rs  of  earth  : 

From  thirteen  States  despised,  and  weak,  and  poor, 

Our  empire  reaches,  now,  to  either  shore  ; 

And  as  it,  thus,  with  giant  pow'r  expands, 

The  railroad  links  it  with  its  iron  bands, 

While  fleets  of  steamboats  throng  our  inland  seas, 

And  Commerce  bends  her  sails  to  ev'ry  breeze  ; 

In  the  Far  Wrest,  whole  forests  swept  away, 

Cities  arise  where  they  stood  yesterday, 

And  Agriculture,  with  her  fruitful  hand, 

Sows  plenty  broadcast  o'er  our  favor'd  land  ; 

While  Education  opens  unto  all 

The  old  log  field-school,  or  the  college  hall. 

And  now  the  Old  World  gazes  in  surprise, 
To  mark  our  greatness,  and  our  sudden  rise  ; 
And  tyrants,  and  decay'd  nobility, 
Fear  that  their  serfs,  who  our  example  see, 
May  turn  upon  the  foot  that's  crush'd  so  long, 
And  by  one  effort  strike  down  hoary  wrong. 


OR,   THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  95 

But — sad  reflection — nations  once  were  free, 

As  great,  and  far  more  powerful  than  we, 

Who  now  are  fallen,  most  corrupt,  and  base, 

Degraded,  and  a  stigma  on  their  race  ; 

Potent  no  more,  except  in  what  depraves, 

They  move  upon  the  earth  as  crawling  slaves. 

See  Rome,  now  impotent  and  fall'n,  hurl'd 

From  her  proud  place  as  Mistress  of  the  World  ; 

Gone  all  her  pow'r,  and  gone  her  dauntless  pride, 

And  strength  which,  singly,  all  the  world  defied  ; 

Gone  her  proud  monuments,  her  temples  gone, 

Her  forum  but  a  shapeless  mass  of  stone  ; 

Her  navy  gone,  her  boasted  army  is 

Replac'd  by  regiments  of  hireling  Swiss  ; 

Her  name,  that  once  could  haughtiest  monarchs  tame, 

Becomes  a  by-word  for  disgrace  and  shame. 

Yet  once  the  meanest  of  that  grov'ling  herd, 

The  while  a  haughty  pride  his  bosom  stirr'd, 

Had  stood  defiant,  e'en  to  kings,  to  claim 

That  homage  due  unto  a  Roman's  name. 


Then  let  us  seek  to  trace  th'  unvarying  cause 
Which  rules  all  nations  with  unerring  laws  ; 
And,  found,  let  us  endeavor  to  avoid 
That  one  great  vice  by  which  they're  all  destroy'd, 
For  all  the  experience  of  the  past  will  teach, 
That  else  we  their  degraded  state  must  reach. 
'Tis  love  of  gold,  the  parent  vice  of  all 
Those  other  vices  which  weak  man  enthrall  ; 
For  wealth,  well  used,  by  Providence  design'd 
To  make  a  nation  glorious  and  refin'd, 


THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

Is  far  too  apt  to  ruin,  and  deprave, 
Degrade  the  good,  and  enervate  the  brave. 
The  rich,  indulging  in  each  vile  excess, 
Mistake  debauchery  for  happiness, 
And  by  base  revel,  and  the  low  debauch, 
Fan  into  flame  their  country's  fun'ral  torch. 
The  poor,  who  thus  their  bad  example  view, 
Demoralized,  forget  the  instincts  true 
Of  man  to  good,  and,  imitating  them, 
Lose  all  the  noble  attributes  of  men, 
Till,  plung'd  in  an  excess  of  luxury, 
Corruption,  vice,  and  crime,  at  last  we  see 
The  long-doom'd  nation  totter  to  its  fall, 
And  melancholy  ruin  whelming  all. 


Thus  it  has  ever  been,  will  ever  be, 
Like  the  fatal  fruit  of  the  dead  lotos-tree, 
Which  floats  its  vot'ries  on  delicious  dreams, 
And  pours  enchanting  thoughts,  in  plenteous  streams, 
Through  the  enraptured  brain,  and,  for  the  time, 
Brings  visions  bright,  and  glorious,  and  sublime, 
But  leads  the  man,  through  pleasures,  most  intense, 
Unto  a  dark  and  awful  impotence. 

Shall  we  then  make  the  golden  calf  divine, 
And  place  his  statue  in  a  holy  shrine  ? 
Shall  we  begin  to  bend  to,  and  adore, 
An  idol  that  is  fatal  evermore  ? 
And  shall  we  this  religion  drear  adopt, 
That's  ever  found  so  false  and  so  corrupt  ? 


OR,    THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  97 

Sad  truth  we  have — so  pleasing  are  its  rites, 
Each  day  brings  in  new  crowds  of  proselytes, 
The  worship  now  begun — we'll  place  us  nigh, 
And  see  each  fervent  neophyte  pass  by. 


Far  be't  from  me  to  sneer  at  those  whose  place 

\Vould  mark  them  as  the  teachers  of  their  race, 

Who,  if  sincere,  like  their  great  Master,  should 

Go  about- ever  seeking  to  do  good  : 

Here  to  give  comfort,  there  to  chide,  or  warn 

The  sinner's  feet  from  paths  that  lead  to  harm  ; 

To  tend  the  sick,  console  some  racking  grief, 

Or  lead  the  doubter  on  to  firm  belief ; 

Thrice  happy  lot,  to  them  also  't  is  given, 

To  turn  the  thoughts  of  criminals  to  heav'n, — 

Little  by  little  to  inculcate  good, 

And  lead  these  from  a  life  of  hardihood, 

To  learn  the  error  of  their  ways,  and  trust 

A  God  that's  always  merciful  and  just, 

While  Faith's  blest  light  upon  their  bosoms  pours, 

And  substitutes  repentance  for  remorse. 

A  life  like  this  is  truly  good  and  pure, 

And,  if  sincere  in't,  none  could  wish  for  more  ; 

And  though,  undoubtedly,  some  faithful  few 

Are  conscientious  in  whate'er  they  do, 

Yet  many  a  clergyman,  I'm  much  afraid, 

Adopts  his  calling  as  he  would  a  trade, 

And  while  he'd  scorn  to  be  a  humble  teacher, 

Strives  to  become  a  fashionable  preacher  ; 

As  if  he'd  suffer  beneath  heaven's  frown, 

Unless  he  held  forth  in  a  church  up  town. 


THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

He  tends  no  sick,  he  comforts  no  distress'd, 

He  gives  no  aching  bosom  balmy  rest, 

He  never  enters  at  a  humble  door, 

And  ministers  unto  the  suff'ring  poor; 

And  if  he  would,  how  should  he  have  the  art, 

Lacking  two  things — sincerity  and  heart  ? 

No,  once  a  week,  in  drawling  tones,  he  pours 

Upon  a  yawning  audience  a  discourse. 

His  tidy  kids  are  daintily  drawn  on, 

And  pure  as  innocence  his  spotless  lawn. 

He  waves  his  kerchief,  edged  with  richest  lace, 

And  lengthens  piously  his  rev'rend  face. 

He  speaks  of  angel  choirs, — his  thoughts  are  far 

Among  the  gems  of  last  night's  opera  ; 

Of  heav'nly  joys,  which  no  one  values  less, 

And  looks  admiringly  at  each  new  dress ; 

Tells  us  of  holy  truths  to  which  he's  careless, 

And  looks  with  venal  eye  upon  some  heiress  ; 

And  when  the  blessing's  given,  and  he's  through, 

Hastens  to  Smith's,  to  dine  with  a  choice  few.; 

Or  of  petitions,  mayhap,  signs  a  score 

'Gainst  slavery,  which  he  thinks  is  a  sore 

Blot  on  our  nation,  and  against  tlv  intent 

Of  the  Constitution  ;  but  ne'er  gives  a  cent 

To  help  a  freedman,  or  to  buy  a  slave. 

Oh  no,  he  gives  his  all,  the  surpliced  knave, 

In  that  cheap  substitute  for  charity 

Which  mock  philanthropists  call  sympathy. 

In  a  few  years  he  tires  of  the  routine, 

And  wishes,  good  man,  for  a  change  of  scene 

When,  practising  a  sort  of  pious  fraud, 


OR,   THE  'ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  99 

He  gets  bronchitis,  and  is  sent 'abroad. 

Such  men  too  oft— oh,  shame  unto  our  kind  ! — 

Among  us,  in  this  golden  age,  we  find  : 

They  lead  the  way  where  all  the  others  follow, 

And  worship  only  the  Almighty  Dollar. 


Then  after  him  behold  the  sage  M.  D., 

A  weighty  man  in  the  community  ; 

He's  your  best  friend,  ador'd  too  by  your  wife, 

And  ushers  all  your  children  into  life. 

In  sombre  black  he  drives  'round  in  a.  gig, 

Takes  snuff,  chews  rhubard,  and  he  wears  a  wig. 

Whene'er  a  patient  he  is  call'd  to  see, 

Our  Esculapius  talks  most  learnedly  ; 

A  poultice  he  a  cataplasm  will  call, 

Bleeding  depletion,  and,  at  times,  lets  fall 

A  monster  word  like  this  one  "  diarrhetic," 

Which  means  the  opposite  to,  an  emetic. 

He  hems,  and  haws,  and  asks  your  tongue  to  see, 

And  then  in  Latin  writes  his  recipe  ; 

And  when  at  fault,  puts  always  "  quantum  suff.," 

Which  in  plain  English  only  means  enough. 

He's  a  philanthropist — a  constant  strife 

He  wages  'gainst  the  various  ills  of  life  ; 

When  in  his  pre:ence,  hint  but  at  a  pain, 

And  you  will  try  to  'scape  his  clutch  in  vain. 

He  feels  your  pulse,  then  questions  you  quite  close, 

Inspects  your  tongue,  and  orders  you  a  dose  ; 

And  when,  at  last,  you're  really  made  unwell, 

He  puts  a  muffle  on  your  front-door  bell, 


too  THE  GOLDEN  CALF 

From  your  abode  proscribes  your  dearest  friends, 

And  hired  nurses  of  his  own  he  sends. 

And,  after  things  have  gone  awhile  this  way, 

He  calls  upon  you  four  times  ev'ry  day  ; 

Ne'er  say  "  I'm  better,"  and  ne'er  ask  "  why  is  it  ?" 

The  Doctor's  always  paid  so  much  a  visit. 

You  are,  my  friend— you'll  pardon  me,  I  beg — 

The  goose  who  lays,  for  him,  the  golden  egg, 

And  he's  not  fool  enough,  like  him  of  old, 

To  put  an  end  to  that  which  brings  him  gold. 

Yet  he,  at  length,  when  forc'd  by  decency, 

Permits  you,  first,  a  friend  or  two  to  see, 

Then  lets  you  rise,  a  moment,  from  your  bed, 

And  to  your  window  has  you  gently  led  ; 

And,  when  you've  this  a  week  or  so  endur'd, 

He  then  pronounces  you  completely  cur'd, 

And  sends  you  in — thank  God,  the  thing's  no  worse — 

A  bill,  requiring  a  strong,  healthy  purse. 

Next  comes  a  bustling,  busy  little  man, 
Whose  restless  eyes  seek  ev'rything  to  scan. 
His  pale,  thin  lips,  wreath'd  in  a  constant  smile, 
Mark  him  a  man  of  strategy  and  wile  ; 
One  who  has  not  a  sole  redeeming  trait, 
And  whom  all  men  should  justly  execrate  : — 
He  is  a  man  expert  in  all  that's  evil, 
A  Lawyer,  and  first  cousin  to  the  devil  ; 
A  great  peace-maker,  who,  as  it  appears, 
Always  pulls  folks  together  by  the  ears  ; 
One  who  has  done  far  more  in  his  life 
Towards  keeping  up  fell  rancor,  and  stern  strife, 


t    •         OR,    THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  ioi 

Among  the  human  family,  than  all 

Men  of  all  other  kinds  since  Adam's  fall. 

He  loves  to  see  relations,  dearest,  learn 

To  hate  each  other,  let  their  bosoms  burn 

With  every  passion  that  is  base  and  ill,        [ 

Striving,  for  gold,  to  break  a  parent's  will. 

But  most  he  loves  to  hunt  out  an  old  flaw, 

Which  proves  some  title-deed  not  worth  a  straw  ; 

Instant  he  seeks  you,  and  says,  Sir,  this  land 

Is  yours,  if  you  a  little  suit  can  stand  ; 

Explains  it  all,  and  makes  the  thing  quite  clear, 

And  you  a  very  injur'd  man  appear. 

While  he,  one  of  that  philanthropic  brood 

Of  hell's  own  hatching,  seeks  naught  but  your  good. 

And  if,  by  chance,  you  to  a  suit  agree, 

Before  you  know  it  you're  in  Chancery, 

And,  well  in  Chancery,  the  Lord  knows  when 

You'll  live  to  get  well  out  of  it  again  ; 

Year  after  year  the  thing  drags  slowly  on, 

Until  at  length  'tis  over,  and  you've  won,; 

And  when,  at  last,  you've  gotten  safely  through  't, 

He  brings  a  bill  in  longer  than  the  suit ; 

He  never  acts  from  feelings  pure  and  kind. 

But  like  his  goddess,  Justice,  is  quite  blind  ; 

Holds  out  his  hand,  takes  all  that  he  can  get, 

And  counts  all  fish  that  come  into  his  net. 

Expert  in  all  th'  expedients  of  fraud, 

He  sets  at  naught,  not  man's  laws,  those  of  God  , 

No  Christian  motives  prompt  him  e'er  to  lend 

His  services  the  suffring  to  befriend. 

The  wrong'd  and  cheated  are  to  him  as  naught, 


102  THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

Provided  his  opinion  is  not  bought  ; 

The  weak  may  bend  beneath  oppression's  heel, 

Gold  is  the  only  touch-stone  he  can  feel  : — • 

Soulless,  like  corporations,  he  will  act 

For  either  side,  and  with  the  nicest  tact, 

And  do  the  dirtiest  tilings  for  a  good  fee, 

Provided  he  can  do  them  legally. 


The  next  man,  see,  his  face  all  thin  with  care, 

His  brow  is  furrow 'd,  and  all  white  his  hair  ; 

A  merchant,  with  his  coffers  running  o'er, 

Day  by  day  striving  to  increase  his  store  ; 

His  ships,  deep-laden,  plunge  through  ev'ry  sea, 

And  wealth  pours  in  upon  him  plenteously. 

Yet,  as  he  works  assiduous  for  gain, 

Full  many  blots  his  flexile  conscience  stain. 

He  holds  to  his  word  with  scruple  most  intense, 

But  wrongs  at  any  time  his  moral  sense  ; 

His  boasted  honor  is  a  show  most  hollow, 

•  Which  he  has  sacrificed  for  many  a  dollar  : 
When  selling  so  low  that  he  can  but  lose, 
He's  gaining  profits  that  would  shock  the  Jews, 

;  His  maxim  is  his  store  to  increase, 
Seem  honest,  and  the  unsuspecting  fleece  ; 
If  he  e'er  give  a  sum  in  charity, 
The  thing  is  done  for  show,  and  publicly  ; 
He  gives  it  thus,  because  he  feels  quite  sure 

:  That,  in  the  end,  he'll  gain  by  it  much  more, 
As  actors,  now  and  then  to  make  a  hit, 
Perform  for  some  asylum's  benefit  :— 


OR,   THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  •    103 

Among  the  congregation  he  appears, 
One  of  the  calf's  most  ardent  worshipers. 


He  whom  all  eyes  with  such  mark'd  rev'rence  follow, 

Is,  so  to  speak,  friend,  an  incarnate  dollar 

A  golden  Mars,  waging  perpetual  war 

In  the  stock  market,  as  a  bull  or  bear  ; 

Or  haply  owns  a  bank,  not  worth  a  fiddle, 

Deep  in  the  bottom,  or  far  in  the  middle 

Of  some  imaginary  lake,  with  all 

Sorts  of  imaginary  capital  ; 

And  when  our  broker  a  round  sum  has  made, 

You  find  some  day  your  friend  the  "  wild  cat's"  dead, 

Or  your  "  white  pigeon"  flown.     A  serious  joke^ 

Your  broker  and  his  fancy  bank  are  broke, 

Or  else  he  issues  spurious  bonds  for  stocks, 

Or,  with  a  wire,  picks  his  own  strong  box. 

Our  quondam  bull  no  more  Ms  horn'd  head  tosses, 

But  then  retires  to  live  upon  his  losses, 

And  takes  his  place  (earn'd — oh  most  worthily — ) 

As  high-priest  of  the  gold  divinity. 

Behold  an  editor — see  what  his  tone, 
Who  rules  a  reading  public,  like  our  own  ; 
Who,  as  he  works  for  good,  or  its  reverse, 
Becomes  a  nation's  blessing  or  its  curse. 
What  is  his  tone  ?     He  changes  hour  by  hour, 
Striving  to  gain  the  patronage  of  pow'r  ; 
And  tries  to  sway  the  public  by  his  views, 
For  his  own  good  this  moral  force  to  use. 


104  THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

Hear  him  the  course  of  factionists  lamenting, 

Working,  the  while,  to  get  the  public  printing 

See  how,  when  foil'd  in  his  selfish  aims, 

His  unbias'd  sheet  th'  administration  blames  ; 

Like  him  who,  outraged,  shifted  his  position, 

When  told  he  couldn't  get  a  foreign  mission. 

Yet  they  have  pow'r  ;  they  know  it,  and  they  use  it — 

Unhappily,  too  often  they  abuse  it ; 

This  side  or  that  they  will  denounce,  or  praise, 

According  as  the  rival  bidder  pays. 

Their  country's  good  these  patriots  ne'er  consider, 

They  always  write  for  him  who's  highest  bidder  : — 

They're  like  the  rest — they  worship  that  same  gold, 

And  can,  at  any  time,  be  bought  or  sold. 

Time  was  when  our  fair  country  hail'd,  with  pride, 
The  patriot  band  who  rallied  to  her  side  ; 
No  sordid  motives  their  pure  breasts  imbued, 
Who  thought  of  nothing  but  their  country's  good  ; 
No  dream  of  pay  or  place  e'er  cross'd  their  mind, 
But,  rather,  ease  or  wealth  each  one  resign'd, 
And  bravely  fought,  through  times  of  deepest  gloom, 
For  those  yet  lying  in  the  Future's  womb. 
Our  rights  attack'd— the  dread  alarm  is  giv'n, 
And  echoed  by  the  arching  vault  of  heav'n  ; 
Each  infant  colony  takes  up  the  cry, 
And  stern  men  arm  to  conquer  or  to  die  ; 
Each  noble  patriot  feels  his  cause  is  strong— 
'Tis  mighty  Right  contending  against  Wrong. 
Well  may  each  vein  with  strong  emotion  thrill, 
And  honest  pride  our  heaving  bosoms  fill, 


OR,   THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  105 

As  we  behold  this  firm  devoted  band 
Fight  for  the  freedom  of  their  native  land. 
Now,  campless,  bivouacking  cheerfully 
Among  the  noxious  swamps  of  the  Pedee  ; 
And  now,  half  naked,  leaving,  as  they  go, 
Their  bloody  tracks  on  Valley  Forge's  snow  ; 
And  when  they've  won  proud  Saratoga's  field, 
And  forc'd,  at  Yorktown,  our  stern  foe  to  yield, 
Not  yet  their  labors  over,  nor  their  care,        t 
The  Senate  calls  them  to  new  duties  there  ; 
And  their  great  aim,  throughout  the  long  debate, 
To  make  the  people  prosperous  and  great. 
Far  other  now — the  Patriots  all  are  dead — 
We  have  the  politician  in  their  stead  : 
A  brood  of  vultures,  which  around  us  rise, 
Ready  to  pounce  upon  each  carrion  prize. 
These  men  are  in  the  market,  and  the  cry, 

"Patriots  for  plunder,  come,  who'll  buy— who'll 
buy?" 

What  care  they  for  the  country?     What  care  they 

For  those  whose  votes  they  canvass'd  yesterday  ? 

Now  for  economy — it  has  a  charm — 

Now  vote  each  lazy  vagabond  a  farm  ; 

Now  filibusters,  and  all  annexation, 

Now  it  would  be  destruction  to  the  nation  ; 

Now  they  swear  ev'ry  foreigner  's  a  rogue, 

And  now  they  "love  the  sound  of  the  dear  brogue  ;" 

To-day  Free-soilers,  the  next  Union  men, 

The  next  day  for  the  woolly -heads  again  ; 

Now  for  the  highest  tariffs,  now  for  small, 

For  or  against  just  anything  at  all :— 


THE   GOLDEN  CALF: 

Vile  demagogues,  who  care  not  what  they  say, 
Or  how  they  act,  provided  it  will  pay. 
Selfish,  unprincipled,  most  vile  and  base, 
They'd  barter  off  their  souls  for  pay  and  place  ; 
Shame  they  have  none,  and  honor  is  a  word 
The  have  forgotten  ever  to  have  heard. 
They  worship  naught  but  principle,  we're  told — 
Another  name  for  our  same  calf  of  gold. 


Who  that  poor  youth  whose  dress  and  mien  proclaim 

One  made  his  sex  to  burlesque  and  to  shame  ? 

But  just  eighteen,  a  man  he  apes  to  be, 

Though  lacking  all  to  make  one  worthily ; 

Just  heart  enough  to  send  blood  through  his  veins, 

And  tongue  enough  to  show  his  want  of  brains  ; 

Man  in  his  vices  he  can  imitate, 

Not  in  one  virtue  that  does  palliate  ; 

His  day  is  spent  round  stables  and  'mong  grooms, 

Or  swallowing  brandy  in  low  drinking-rooms  ; 

At  night  he  to  some  hell  will  staggering  go, 

And  lose  his  father's  money  at  faro  ; 

Or,  in  some  fashionable  brothel,  mends 

His  mind  and  morals  'mong  his  female  friends. 

Nothing  that's  sensible  for  hjm — oh  no — 

Our  brainless  man  conceives  that  it's  too  "slow." 

If  you  e'er  ask  him  how  his  time  is  past, 

He  smiles,  and  tells  you  New  York  's  dev'lish  fast ; 

Says  he  has  been  "out  driving  on  the  road," 

Or  "in  a  rum-shop  taking  on  a  load  ;" 

He  sups  at  Claremont  with  a  crowd  to-night, 

Where  doubtless  they'll  get  beautifully  "tight  ;" 


OR,    THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR,  107 

Or  mayhap  he  affects  the  old  roue 

And  yawns  and  grumbles,  and  says  he's  blase  ; 

Has  cut  the  theatres,  and  parties,  too, 

And  wishes  he  could  get  up  something  new. 

But  our  American  taste  is  very  low — 

And  as  for  living — why,  we  don't  know  how. 

He  thinks  it's  dev'lish  hard — what  do  you  think  ? 

He  feels  quite  dry — suppose  you  take  a  drink. 

Look  at  him — yes,  you  justly  may  say  faugh — - 

He  is  that  thing  styled  "Young  America  :" 

A  thing  more  apt  to  make  you  sigh  than  laugh— 

A  beast  begotten  by  the  Golden  Calf. 


Behold  the  two  last  draw  up  at  the  door — 
Each  one,  you  see,  arrived  in  coach  and  four. 
Tompkins  and  Smith,  two  of  the  upper-ten, 
Who're  made  by  this  calf-worship  among  men. 
For  upper-tendom — I  don't  mean  to  shock  it — • 
Measures  a  man,  friend,  by  his  depth  of  pocket. 
Smith  has  a  large  palatial  residence, 
Furnish'd  and  built  regardless  of  expense. 
Enter  and  look — what  man  could  wish  for  more  ? 
There's  nothing  wanting  money  '11  buy,  I'm  sure. 
He  has  bois  de  rose,  and  buhl,  and  marqitetrie, 
His  carpets  Aubusson  tapisserie. 
Objds  de  virtu  priceless,  rich,  and  rare, 
And  our  best  sculptors'  handiwork,  are  there  ; 
And  pictures,  too— although  it  seems  he  aims, 
In  them,  at  nothing  but  the  richest  frames  ; 
Wheel'd  vehicles  of  all  sorts  'neath  the  sun — 


io8  THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

Berime,  caleche,  coupe,  and  phaeton  ; 

His  horses  are  the  finest  that  you'll  see. 

His  servants  wear  the  richest  livery  : 

In  fine,  he's  of  the  ton, — the  most  elite 

Society  at  Smith's  grand  balls  you  meet. 

And  who  is  Smith  ?     To  see  him,  you'd  declare 

His  condescending  smile  and  haughty  air 

Stamp  him  a  snob — one  of  the  newly  great, 

Who  gain'd  his  station  after  his  estate  :— 

Pretension,  egotism,  and  conceit, 

Give  you  our  hero's  character  complete. 

Smith  was,  as  all  his  fellow-townsmen  know, 

A  baker  once,  who  kneaded  his  own  dough  ; 

Who,  when  in  life  he  first  began  to  start, 

Was  not  too  proud  to  drive  his  own  bread-cart : 

He  was  industrious,  understood  his  trade, 

And,  by  degrees,  a  little  money  made  ; 

And  when,  in  time,  he  a  small  fortune  earn'd, 

Dough,  trough,  and  shop,  and  bread-cart,  all  were 

sptirn'd  ; 

On  Wall-street  he  was  early  seen,  and  late. 
In  town-lots  he'd  begun  to  speculate  : 
He  sold  and  bought,  and  sold  again  and  bought, 
The  city  grew,  lots  eagerly  were  sought  ; 
Until,  at  length,  things  got  to  such  a  pitch, 
One  fine  day  dawns,  and  Smith's  immensely  rich. 
And  having  now  made  quite  enough  to  dash  on, 
He  thinks  he'll  enter  in  the  world  of  fashion. 
As  the  first  step,  he  builds  his  house  up  town, 
And  furnishes  it,  as  already  shown 
And,  as  th'  aristocratic  feeling  warms, 


OR,   THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  109 

He  steps  down  street  to  buy  a  coat  of  arms. 

The  Herald — for  so  well  this  thing  does  pay, 

We  have  a  Herald's  office  on  Broadway 

The  Herald  asks  him,  with  a  solemn  phiz, 

Which  fam'ly  of  the  myriad  Smiths  is  his. 

His  father  was  a  shoemaker,  he  knows — 

No  farther  back  his  genealogy  goes. 

And  therefore,  as  his  questioner  knew  well, 

He  answers  that  he  can't  exactly  tell  ; 

But  other  people  have  them,  and  he'll  pay 

As  much  for  one  as  they  can,  any  day. 

The  Herald  then—"  Dear  sir,  your  shield  shall  be 

Made  from  parts  of  the  prettiest  two  or  three, 

That's  well  enough,  and  by  the  way  of  crest, 

We'll  take  the  one  that  suits  your  fancy  best.' 

Now  well  equipp'd  with  ev'rything  he  needs, 

To  give  a  splendid  ball  he  next  proceeds, 

And  for  the  company  he  sends  for  Browne, 

The  sexton  of  a  fancy  church  up  town, 

Who  always  takes  around  the  invitations 

To  the  balls  of  persons  in  the  "  highest  stations," 

And  by  a  sequitur  which  I  can't  see, 

Introduces  blackguards  in  society. 

In  France  nobility  has  gone  so  far 

For  nouveaux  riches,  snobs  from  America, 

As  to  invite  guests  to  the  nabob's  ball, 

With  this  proviso,  they  invited  all, 

Regarding  him  as  a  restaurateur 

Who  furnish'd  them  with  music  and  good  cheer  ; 

And  did  it  gratis,  too,  and  cheerfully, 

Provided  he  fed  aristocracy. 


rio  THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

But  New-York  high-life  justly  this  reverses, 

And  bends  before  its  man  of  pews  and  hearses. 

He  gives  to  Smith  the  names  from  his  own  list, 

And  the  next  day  is  with  the  cards  dismiss'd  : 

Bean-monde  turns  up  its  nose  awhile,  for  show, 

But  finally,  concludes  that  it  will  go. 

The  host|is  vulgar— but  he  entertains 

Uneducated— but  a  man  of  means  ; 

A  low  upstart,  whose  talisman's  his  purse— 

My  friend,  most  of  them  are  as  bad,  or  worse. 

Besides,  we  know  society's  benign 

To  those  who  feed  it  well,  and  keep  good  wine  :— 

Thenceforward  Smith  holds  up  his  head  'mong  men, 

And  takes  his  place  amid  the  upper-ten. 

When  Smith  on  Fortune's  wave  began  to  ride, 

Tompkins  his  trade  as  a  poor  tailor  plied  : 

But  he,  too,  wishes  in  the  world  to  rise, 

And,  as  he  works,  learns  to  economize. 

He  fits  quite  well,  is  moderate  in  charges, 

And,  with  his  business,  he  his  shop  enlarges  ; 

Expanding  then  in  views  and  fortune  both, 

He  turns  a  merchant,  and  he  deals  in  cloth. 

lie  imports  largely,  has  "  a  run  of  luck," 

And  with  th'  aristocratic  feeling's  struck. 

The  first  step  in  his  upward  path,  of  course, 

Is  a  fine  house,  and  he  builds  one  perforce  ; 

But  why  repeat— like  Smith,  he  calls  in  Browne, 

And  fetes  the  fashionable  part  of  town. 

On  Tompkins'  house  new  days  begin  to  dawn, 

His  hissing  goose  is,  now,  a  splendid  swan. 


OX,    THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  ill 

Although  Smith,  who  preceded  him  some  years, 
Has  for  society's  stability  great  fears  ; 
Indeed,  Smith's  family  all  grow  quite  savage 
At  his  success,  and  make  hints  about  cabbage, 
While  proud  Miss  Smith,  contemptuously,  says 
She  does  despise  those  upstart  Tompkinses. 


Poor  human  nature — if  these  folks  must  rise, 

Why  let  them,  'tis  not  they  that  we  despise. 

Let  them  have  Croesus'  wealth,  or  richer  be, 

We  lose  not  our  respectability. 

But,  once  admitted  to  the  place  they  sought, 

Let  them  remember  their  position's  bought  ; 

Let  them  avoid  all  airs,  and  all  pretension, 

Nor  always  act  as  if  in  condescension  ; 

And  above  all,  when  others,  good  as  they, 

Rise  from  a  station  they  held  yesterday, 

Let  them  not  talk  as  if  they  could  look,  far, 

Beyond  their  own  plebeian  ancestor. 

I'll  tell  to  them  a  truth  the  whole  world  owns, 

"  Ye  dwellers  in  glass  houses,  don't  throw  stones." 

No,  act  with  dignity  in  your  new  place, 

Nor  think  your  origin  is  a  disgrace  ; 

Try  not  to  hide,  nor  drag  it  into  view, 

Let  it  alone,  the  world  will  do  so  too  ; 

Seeking  to  hide  it  is  a  vulgar  shame, 

To  show't  a  false  pride  equally  to  blame. 

No — keep  the  even  tenor  of  your  way, 

Of  others'  origin  have  naught  to  say  ; 


112  "HE   GOLDEN  CALF: 

Once  ns'n,  'tis  contemptible  and  mean 
To  sneer  at  that  which  you  yourselves  have  been. 
You  rose  through  wealth,  and  let  not  a  purse -pride. 
Make  others  speak  of  things  you'd  gladly  hide. 


It  is  onr  country  rs  honor,  and  its  boast 

That  each  man  may  attain  to  any  post. 

Man's  inind  is  free  to- judge  of  any  fact, 

And,  as  he  judges,  he  is  free  to  act. 

Religion,  government,  whate'er  it  be, 

*Tis  still  the  same,  man's  mind  is  always  free  ; 

The  people's  holy  voice  decides-  on  all,. 

Acclaims  the  statesman,  or  it  dooms  his  fall  ; 

And  each,  of  those  who  with  his  voice's  might, 

Proclaims  his  verdict  with  a  freeman's  right, 

No  matter  if  the  humblest  of  the  throng, 

Who  honor  honesty,  or  punish  wrong, 

Feels,  as  he's  standing  there  unknown  to  Fame, 

With  nothing  his  except  a  freeman's  name, 

With  nothing  there  to  raise  him  rbove  his  kind, 

Except  the  stern  will,  and  the  pow'rful  mind,— 

WTith  not  one  friend,  by  place  or  riches  strong, 

With  but  himself  to  help  himself  along,— 

With  conscious  pride,  feels  that  great  truth  sublime, 

That  he  may  win  a  name  to  last  through  time  ; 

That  want  of  birth  and  wealth  gives  naught  to  fear, 

"Where  high  or  low  may  run  the  same  career  \ 

And  he,  if  he  have  mind  and  honesty, 

The  strong  resolve,  and  firm  integrity  s 


OR,   THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  113 

May,  step  by  step,  rise  up  and  take  his  place 
Among  the  highest,  loftiest  of  his  race  ; 
May  win  that  post,  the  proudest  man  can  fill, 
The  freemen's  ruler,  by  the  freemen's  will. 
Yes,  this  is  so  ;  but,  answer  me,  how  oft 
Does  worthiest  merit  bear  a  man  aloft  ? 
How  many  men,  of  intellect  and  worth, 
Are  crush'd  and  kept  back,  not  by  want  of  birth, 
But  by  the  want  of  wealth  ? — that  cursed  god 
That  rules  our  nation  with  a  tyrant's  rod. 
While  others,  who  have  not  one  claim  to  be 
Rais'd  from  their  birth-right  of  obscurity, 
Attain  that  place  which  those  may  vainly  crave, 
Carried  aloft  on  Fortune's  golden  wave. 
Most  sad  avowal,  yet  alas  !  too  true, 
Gold  is  all  pow'rful— gold  can  all  things  do. 


Yes,  glorious  gold,  't  is  thus  each  day  we  see 
Goodness  and  truth  subservient  to  thee. 
Thou  mighty  god,  near  thee  all  others  pale, 
Thy  power  alone  it  is  can  never  fail. 
We  bend  to  thee  with  superstitious  awe, 
And  humbly  greet  thy  presence  from  afar. 
'Thrice  pow'rful  Deity,  we  worship  thee 
Supreme,  oh  most  august  Divinity  ! 
Thee  ever  honor,  to  thee  give  all  praise, 
And  to  thy  service  consecrate  our  days. 
Thou  great,  benign,  serene  Omnipotence, 
Eagles,  half  eagles,  dollars,  dimes  and  cents. 


II4  THE  GOLDEN  CALF: 

And  still  dread  awe  our  throbbing  bosom  fills, 
As  we  contemplate  thee  reduced  to  mills. 


How  few  of  those  who  seek  wealth  do  we  see 

Who  make  no  sacrifice  of  honesty  ; 

How  very  few  of  those  who  wealth  inherit 

Are  ever  men  of  any  worth  or  merit ! 

The  heir,  what  is  he  mostly  in  our  day  ? 

Weak  debauchee,  or  profligate  roue  ; 

His  mind  is  weak  and  vulgar  as  his  taste, 

His  moral  sense  is  blunted  or  debased  : 

He  has  the  vices,  but  is  lacking  quite 

The  refinement  of  th'  effem'nate  Sybarite. 

While  those  who  lack  wealth,  truth  most  melancholy, 

With  these  vie  in  extravagance  and  folly  ; 

Owing  their  house -rent,  and  yet  giving  balls, 

Their  butcher,  and  yet  hiring  op'ra  stalls  ; 

Preying  on  him  who  trusts  them,  or  who  lends, 

Cheating  their  tradesmen,  and  defrauding  friends, 

Their  whole  life  is  a  fraud,  and  a  deceit, 

Their  creed  rascality,  their  aim  to  cheat ; 

Steal  a  few  half-dimes,  and  the  world  cries,  shame, 

Let  it  be  thousands,  and  you  get  no  blame  ; 

That  is,  don't  rob  a  man,  that's  deadly  sin, 

And  vulgar  too— but  "  make  it  out  of  him  :" 

Go  cheat  the  government,  but  let  it  be 

A  good  round  sum,  and  do  it  legally  ; 

Then  revel  on  the  proceeds  of  your  fraud, 

Fear  nothing,  feast  men,  and  they'll  all  applaud  ; 


OR,   THE  ALMIGHTY  DOLLAR.  115 

Defraud  an  orphan,  on  your  ill -got  gains 

Give  balls,  in  entertainments  spare  no  pains  ; 

Go  sport  you  lord-like,  build  a  princely  house, 

And  give  a  periodical  carouse  : 

And  then  't  is  not  the  theft  that's  wrong,  you'll  see, 

But  going  to  the  penitentiary. 

Men  hold  the  doctrine  Spartan  boys  were  taught, 

To  steal's  no  sin,  but  only  to  be  caught. 

Riches  is  what  by  all  is  most  desir'd, 

And  who  has  most  of  it  is  most  admired. 


Who  then  e'er  made  th'  assertion  weak  and  rash, 

And  foolish,  he  "  who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash  !" 

That  great  man  whom  I  honor  and  admire, 

lago,  but  'twas  when  he  did  desire 

To  heal  the  aching  pang  which  gave  unrest, 

To  black  Othello's. jealous  swarthy  breast. 

'Twas  nonsense,  and  he  thus  did  truth  abuse, 

Just  as  good  men  will  often  fiction  use 

To  heal  some  racking  pang,  and  give  relief, 

Where  passion's  cur'd  by  things  beyond  belief. 

But  when  he  spoke  words  wise  and  full  of  truth 

To  Roderigo  his  friend,  ardent  youth, 

He  said,  young  man,  these  words  of  wisdom  nurse, 

Above  all  things,  "  put  money  in  thy  purse." 

Yes,  lose  all  honor  and  all  virtue,  be 

Guilty  of  ev'ry  crime  and  infamy, 

Do  each  base  deed,  from  which  the  sicken'd  soul 

Shrinks  back  appall'd  ;  admit  not  the  control 


"6  THE  GOLDEN  CALF. 

'  Of  e'en  one  decent  feeling,  if  you've  gold, 
Stand  safe  amid  your  treasures,  and  be  bold. 
Your  vice,  a  dazzling  veil  is  hid  behind, 
The  world  to  all  except  your  gold  is  blind. 
It  is  the  magic  that  can  all  bewitch, 
YOU'RE  SURE  TO  BE  RESPECTABLE  IF  RICH. 


REPORT. 


TO  THE  PRESIDENT  AND  DIRECTORS 

OF    THE 

VANDERBURG     MINING    COMPANY. 


GENTLEMEN  :— 

><~fe  £& 

JK§> 

X  HAVE,  the  last  month,  made  a  survey  of  the 
property  belonging  to  the  Vanderburg  Min 
ing  Company  in  North  Carolina,  and  herewith 
send  you  a  map  I  have  prepared  of  the  same,  on  which 
the  principal  veins  and  important  features  of  the  pro 
perty  will  be  found  plotted. 

The  main  tract  comprises  several  estates  now  consoli 
dated  into  one.  It  has  an  extreme  length,  north  and 
south,  of  about  one  mile  and  100  rods,  and  east  and  west 
is  nowhere  less  than  200  rods.  It  bounds  the  property 
of  the  Phoenix  Mining  Company  on  the  north  and  east, 


n8  REPORT. 

and  must  have  upon  it  the  extension  of  all  the  veins 
worked  by  this  Company. 

It  is  about  six  miles  from  Concord,  in  Cubarrus  coun 
ty,  to  which  place  the  North  Carolina  Railroad  will  be  in 
operation  next  spring. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  elevated  ;  it  is  moderately 
hilly,  fertile  and  well  watered.  The  principal  tract  is 
about  equally  divided  between  farming  and  timber  land. 
The  growth  is  mostly  oak  with  groves  of  small  pines. 
Many  large  yellow  pines  are  intermixed  with  the  hard 
wood  growth. 

The  rock  formation  is  greenstone— seldom  seen  out 
cropping,  but  exposed  in  loose  pieces  over  the  surface, 
and  reached  below  by  mining  operations.  It  passes  into 
a  highly  ferruginous  horn-blend  rock,  with  which  is 
associated  a  little  serpentine  and  epidote.  The  slate  belt 
of  this  region  lies  farther  east  ;  the  granite  belt  is  on  the 
west,  extending  beyond  Concord. 

A  great  number  of  metaliferous  veins  traverse  the 
greenstone,  pursuing  a  general  course  N.  50°  to  N.  65°  E. 
They  consist  of  quartz,  with  which  are  associated  sul 
phate  of  barytes,  spathic  iron,  and  pyritiferous  iron  and 
copper.  Gold  has  been  found  disseminated  so  abund 
antly  through  the  vein-stones,  that  explorations  upon 
them  have  been  extensively  carried  on  at  times  when 
mining  operations  were  little  in  favor,  capital  not  abund 
ant  ;  and  when  the  ores  were  necessarily  transported 
several  miles  to  the  nearest  mill. 

The   vein,   which   has    been    most   worked,    is   traced 


REPORT.  -119 

across  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Phoenix  tract  and  the 
whole  of  the  Vanderburg  by  a  succession  of  pits  sunk 
along  its  line  of  out-crop.  On  both  tracts  the  mining 
upon  it  is  now  prosecuted  to  a  depth  requiring  steam- 
power  for  the  extraction  of  the  water  and  ores.  It  has 
yielded  rich  bunches  of  gold  ore  near  the  surface  ;  and 
throughout  the  vein  gold  is  diffused  in  such  quantity, 
that  the  heaps  of  ore  now  lying  upon  the  surface  are 
valued  at  not  less  than  $2.00  per  bushel  by  the  former 
proprietors  of  the  Vanderburg  mine.  Many  of  the  speci 
mens  extracted  present  a  beautiful  show  of  coarse  gold, 
such  as  are  not  often  found  at  the  best  mires  in  the 
State.  As  in  depth  the  vein  is  more  pyritiferous  than 
near  the  surface,  it  is  not  unlikely  the  production  may 
continue  to  greater  depths  than  is  usual  at  mines  defi 
cient  in  the  yellow  sulphurets  of  iron  and  copper.  At 
Gold  Hill,  in  the  same  vicinity,  gold  is  abundant  in  the 
pyritiferous  ores  to  the  greatest  depth  yet  reached, 
which  is  340  feet.  The  deepest  workings  on  the  Vander 
burg  are  only  100  feet.  Pyritous  copper  ore  is  found  in  such 
quantity  that  the  mine  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  a  cop 
per  mine,  and  when  further  opened  by  lower  levels  than 
the  present  workings  may  reasonably  be  expected  to 
produce  largely  of  this  ore.  From  my  survey  of  the 
mine,  sections  of  which  accompany  the  map,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  whole  extent  of  the  underground  workings 
is  only  176  feet,  horizontally,  and  but  a  small  portion  ot 
this  is  at  the  depth  of  the  bottom  of  the  shafts.  With  so 
great  a  length  of  vein  the  workings  can  be  regarded  as 


120  REPORT. 

little  more  than  superficial.  The  thickness  of  the  vein 
varies  from  three  and  a  half  feet  down  to  a  few  inches.  It 
is  more  regular  than  the  veins  in  Guilford  County.  It  is 
remarkable  for  its  smooth  walls,  and  the  "  comb"  like 
character  of  its  vein-stones.  This  feature  and  the  occur 
rence  of  the  materials  making  the  vein  in  parallel  layers, 
which  is  also  noticed  here,  are  regarded  by  miners  as 
very  favorable  signs  of  a  good  vein.  Of  itself  this  vein 
is  sufficient  to  justify  the  establishment  of  mining  opera 
tions  on  a  liberal  scale  without  reference  to  the  other 
veins,  some  of  which  I  now  proceed  to  notice. 

The  next  vein  towards  the  South-east  is  eighteen  rods 
distant,  and  pursues  a  course  nearly  parallel  with  the  first, 
so  far  as  it  is  exposed  by  the  pits  opened  upon  it.  The 
material  thrown  out  appears  well  as  gold  ore,  and  is  en 
couraging  for  farther  exploration.  The  ground  is  favor 
ably  situated  for  opening  the  mine  to  advantage.  As  it 
can  be  proved  for  this  reason,  with  little  expense,  it  will 
be  advisable  to  do  this  as  soon  as  a  mill  is  in  operation 
for  grinding  the  ores. 

The  third  vein  in  this  direction  is  called  the  "  Orchard 
Vein  :"  having  received  this  name  on  the  Phcenix  tract, 
from  which  it  passes  into  the  Vanderburg.  It  is  on  the 
latter  about  83  rods  South-east  of  the  second  vein  just 
described.  On  the  Phcenix  its  course  is  about  N.  64°  E. 
Approaching  Plum  Run  it  curves  more  to  the  Eastward, 
and  its  line  of  out-crop  is  very  crooked.  This  is  in  part 
owing  to  the  unevenness  of  the  surface,  which  in  con 
nection  with  an  underlay  or  dip  to  the  N.  W.,  somewhat 


REPORT.  121 

flat  on  the  surface,  would  give  greater  irregularity  of  out 
line  to  the  out-crop  of  a  vein  than  belongs  to  its  true 
course.  Many  pits  have  beea  sunk  along  this  vein 
on  the  Vanderburg;  a  shaft  also,  from  which  a  large 
amount  of  material  has  been  taken  out,  as  is  evident  from 
the  size  of  the  waste  heap  remaining;  and  a  short  adit 
has  been  driven  into  the  hill  on  the  S.  W.  side  of  the 
tract.  On  the  Phoenix  two  shafts  have  been  sunk  upon 
the  same  vein  and  a  whim  is  now  in  operation  working 
it.  My  only  means  of  forming  an  opinion  of  this  vein 
were— the  general  reputation  it  has;  the  extent  of  the 
former  operations,  which  corroborate  its  favorable  repu 
tation  ;  and  the  appearance  of  the  stuff  remaining  upon 
the  surface.  The  rock  forming  the  country  is  green 
stone  with  serpentine  intermixed.  The  production  of 
gold,  I  learn  from  good  authority,  was  considerable, 
though  the  ore  was  of  variable  character.  Pyritous  cop 
per  was  met  with  in  such  quantity,  both  upon  the  Phoe 
nix  and  Vanderburg,  that  one  would  be  well  warranted 
in  sinking  deep  shafts  in  expectation  of  finding  this  ore 
in  abundance.  In  very  superficial  pits,  at  the  workings 
farther  to  the  N.  E.,  near  the  spring  and  large  poplar, 
noted  upon  the  map,  the  indications  of  good  copper  are 
very  favorable,  and  here  would  be  a  convenient  point  for 
sinking  upon  the  vein,  and  taking  off  the  surface  water 
by  a  short  adit.  Were  a  new  Company  to  be  organized 
for  working  a  portion  of  the  mines  of  this  tract,  Plum 
Run  would  make  a  convenient  division  and  leave  suf 
ficient  territory  to  the  South-east  of  it. 


122  REPORT. 

To  the  North-west  of  the  first  vein  described,  another 
vein  of  importance  is  found  about  fifty-seven  rods  dis 
tant.  It  has  been  worked  on  the  lands  of  Julius  Van- 
derburg,  adjoining  the  Company's  tract  on  the  North 
east,  by  surface  diggings  and  by  a  shaft  forty  feet  deep. 
It  is  said  to  have  produced  good  gold  ore.  On  the  other 
side  the  property,  bordering  the  Phcenix  Company's 
tract,  the  same  vein  (probably)  out-crops  on  a  little 
brook  called  Monkey  Branch.  Both  gold  and  copper 
ores  are  here  found  loose  in  the  banks  of  the  stream  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  the  former 
proprietor,  the  place  has  been  with  some  a  favorite  re 
sort  after  freshets  for  collecting  little  "  nuggets  "  of  gold. 
All  applications  for  rights  to  wash  the  deposits  have 
been  steadily  refused.  From  the  information  I  gathered 
from  one,  who  has  been  accustomed  to  the  business  of 
gold  washing  in  this  region,  I  am  of  opinion  the  vein 
along  this  part  of  Monkey  Branch  will  be  found  a  very 
.valuable  one;  and  the  copper  ores  met  with  in  the 
stream,  which  I  found  myself,  are  strong  evidence  of  a 
workable  vein  of  this  metal. 

"  Branch  mining,"  or  working  the  deposits  of  the 
streams,  has  been  prosecuted  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
this  region.  A  little  run  just  over  the  boundary,  in  the 
farm  of  Julius  Vanderburg,  which  crosses  the  continua 
tion  of  the  above-described  vein,  as  also  that  of  the  vein 
now  worked  by  the  Company,  has  afforded  a  considerable 
amount  of  coarse  gold.  This  fact,  together  with  that  of 
the  veins,  which  must  have  furnished  this  deposit  gold, 


REPORT.  I23 

being  actually  opened  and  presenting  highly  encourag 
ing  features,  ought  to  inspire  strong  confidence,  and  lead 
to  the  laying  out  of  mining  operations  on  a  scale  com 
mensurate  with  the  extent  and  promise  of  the  property. 
With  a  mill  upon  the  spot  for  grinding  the  gold  ores,  the 
expense  of  transporting  these,  which  is  always  a  heavy 
item,  is  saved;  and  according  to  the  extent  of  the  mill, 
its  capability  of  grinding  up  the  poorer  ores  to  profit  in 
large  quantities  is  increased,  while  the  general  expenses 
are  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  product.  All  mines 
furnish  a  much  larger  proportion  of  poor  than  rich  ores. 
It  is  only  those,  which  are  extensively  worked  and  pro 
vided  with  abundant  machinery,  than  can  make  the  great 
bulk  of  their  products  profitable.  The  difference  in  the 
returns  must  be  very  considerable,  when  only  the  ores 
yielding  a  dollar  or  more  per  bushel  can  be  made  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  preparation,  and  when  those  yielding 
twenty-five  cents'  can  be  worked  to  profit,  as  is  the  case 
at  some  of  the  gold  mines  in  Virginia.  Few  companies 
have  so  large  a  field  for  their  operations,  and  one  con 
taining  so  many  veins  known  to  be  productive  as  the 
Vanderburg  Company. 

Along  the  North-western  boundary  of  the  tract  are 
pits  sunk  upon  another  vein.  This  may  be  a  continua-. 
tion  of  the  "  Faggot  vein,"  which  between  these  pits  and 
the  Hagler  Lot  (belonging  to  the  Company)  has  been 
worked  quite  extensively.  Several  shafts  were  sunk 
upon  this  vein,  beside  almost  a  continuous  line  of  pits  up 
to  the  boundary  of  the  Hagler  Lot,  which  the  vein  enters 


124  REPORT. 

upon  its  northern  line.  Running  in  a  direction  about  S. 
34°  W.,  its  course  is  obliquely  across  the  longest  dimen 
sions  of  this  lot.  Separated  from  the  nearest  point  of 
the  main  tract  by  only  fifteen  rods,  this  Hagler  Lot  of 
about  80  acres  may  be  worked  either  under  the  same  or 
a  distinct  organization. 

The  out-crop  of  still  other  veins  is  marked  by  loose 
pieces  of  quartz  and  other  vein-stones  near  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  main  tract.  These  probably  connect 
with  the  first  and  second  veins  described.  Their  posi 
tion  is  noted  upon  the  map,  but  ,no  work  having  been 
done  upon  them,  a  particular  description  cannot  be 
given. 

Besides  the  Hagler  Lot  is  another  tract  of  about  fifty- 
six  acres  lying  near  the  main  body  of  the  property  of  the 
Company  on  the  northern  side  of  the  farms  of  Julius 
Vanderburg  and  Tice  Reinhardt.  The  nearest  point  of 
approach  is  45  rods  N.  62°  30'  East  of  the  extreme  north 
ern  corner.  Stretching  thence  to  the  eastward  the  lot 
takes  the  continuation  of  the  veins,  which  pass  through 
the  centre  of  the  main  tract,  and  through  the  farm  of  J. 
Vanderburg.  Several  have  been  opened,  and  the  extent 
of  the  pits  upon  no  less  than  three  of  these  veins  indi 
cate  that  here  too  they  must  have  been  found  productive 
in  gold.  Although  this  tract  may  not  be  at  once  requir 
ed  for  the  operations  of  the  Company,  it  cannot  but  be 
regarded  as  an  important  accession  to  their  resources. 

The  "  Plunketf  tract  is  a  fourth  lot  about  two  miles 
distant,  to  the  South-east,  on  a  stream  called  Rock  River, 


REPORT.  125 

This  contains  about  ninety  acres,  and  I  am  informed  has 
upon  it  veins  of  similar  character  to  the  others  in  this 
region.  My  time  was  too  limited  to  give  this  the  same 
examination  as  the  rest  of  the  property, 

With  such  resources — abundant  territory  well  located, 
and  containing  numerous  rivers,  all  producing  gold  and 
some  copper  ore  also — the  gold  in  many  of  the  veins 
having  heretofore,  under  disadvantageous  circumstances, 
been  extracted  to  profit,  and  the  copper  ores  having 
every  appearance  of  increasing  in  quantity  and  value  as 
the  mines  are  worked  deeper— the  property  of  the  Van- 
derburg  Mining  Company  is  likely  to  repay  generously 
the  capital  and  enterprise  expended  in  its  thorough 
development. 

Respectfully,  I  am  yours,  etc., 

JAMES  T.  HODGE. 


126  CHARTER. 


CHARTER, 


An  Act  to  Incorporate  the  Excelsior  Gold  Mining 
Company  in  Cabarrus  County 

SEC.  ist.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  North  Carolina,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by 
the  authority  of  the  same  :  That  WILLIAM  P.  FURNISS, 
WILLIAM  FURNISS,  and  their  associates,  successors  and 
assigns,  are  hereby  created  and  constituted  a  body  politic 
and  corporate,  by  the  name  and  style  of  the  Excelsior 
Gold  Mining  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  and 
operating  for  gold  and  other  metals,  and  minerals,  and 
for  mining,  smelting  and  vending  the  same,  and  by  that 
name  and  style,  shall  have  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  mining  corporations  in  this  State,  and  may  purchase, 
hold  and  convey  real  and  personal  estate,  not  exceeding 
the  value  of  one  million  of  dollars. 

SEC.  2d.  Be  it  further  enacted  :  That  the  first  meeting 
of  said  Corporation  may  be  called  by  the  persons  herein 
named,  at  such  times  and  place  as  may  be  agreed  upon 


CHARTER.  '27 

by  them,  and  at  such  and  all  other  meetings  legally 
notified  ;  said  Corporation  may  make,  alter  or  repeal 
such  by-laws  and  regulations  for  the  management  of  the 
business  of  said  Corporation  as  a  majority  of  the  Stock 
holders  may  direct,  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  this 
State  and  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  3d.  Be  it  further  enacted  :  That  the  Capital 
Stock  of  said  Company  shall  be  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  which  may  be  divided  into  shares  and 
sold  and  transferred  in  such  manner  and  form  as  said 
Corporation  may  deem  expedient;  and  said  Company 
may  levy  and  collect  assessments,  forfeit  and  sell  delin 
quent  shares,  declare  and  pay  dividends  in  such  manner 
as  their  by-laws  may  direct. 

SEC.  4th.  Be  it  further  enacted  :  That  one  of  the 
directors  or  officers  of  said  Company  shall  always  be  a 
resident  of  Cabarrus  County,  and  that  service  on  him  or 
any  other  director  or  officer  of  said  Company  shall  be 
valued,  and  sufficient  in  law  and  equity  for  process  or 
proceedings  reasonable  before  any  Judicial  tribunal  in 
this  State,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  directors  of  said 
Company  to  have  regular  books  of  record  and  transfer 
kept  by  the  Secretary  or  Treasurer  thereof,  at  all  times 
open  to  the  inspection  of  the  stockholders,  or  any  ono 
thereof. 


128  CHARTER. 

SEC.  5th.  Be  it  further  enacted  :  That  this  Act  shall 
be  in  force  from  and  after  its  passage,  and  continue  in 
force  for  the  space  of  fifty  years. 

Read  three  times  and  ratified  in  General  ~| 
Assembly,  this  l6th  day  of  February,  1855.  | 
SAM'L  P.  HILL,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  \ 
Commons  ;  WARREN  WINSLOW  Speaker  | 
of  the  Senate.  J 

x-  -x-  *  *  *  * 

*  SEAL.  * 

*  -x-  #•  *  *  * 

STATE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA,         ) 
OFFICE  SEC'Y  OF  STATE,  Raleigh,  March  16,  1874.  \ 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original 
Act  on  file  in  this  office. 

WM.  H.  HOWESTON, 

Secretary  of  State. 


A  REFRAIN. 


I   HOPE 

I  have  not  lost  thee,  Mary, 
I'm  only  thrust  one  side, 

I  had  no  prurient  fantasia, 
To  see  thee  as  my  bride. 

'Twas  a  spirit  that  misled  me, 
As  thou  knelt  in  silent  prayer, 

That  an  angel  had  descended, 
Through  the  dim,  religious  air. 

I  was  thinking  of  that  Mary 
Whom  Jesus  loved  as  friend, 

When  sister  Martha  was  so  gary, 
And  wouldn't  stay  to  mend. 

Thy  dreamy  gaze  involved  me, 
As  I  was  passing  down  the  aisle, 

And  its  magic  so  dissolved  me, 
That  it  made  St.  Clement  smile. 


130  A    REFRAIN. 

On  a  raining  Sunday  morning, 
As  I  sauntered  in  to  prayers, 

A  messenger  in  sackcloth,  mourning, 
Whispered  slyly  in  my  ears  : 

"  Would  you  like  to  know  Miss  Teamy  t" 
"Faith,"  says  I,   "  I  dinna  care," 

It  rather  made  me  dreamy, 
With  my  usual  debonnaire. 

Then  reflecting  on  the  matter — 
For  she  looked  so  very  sweet ; 

How  the  deuce  was  I  to  get  at  her, 
And  contrive  how  we  might  meet? 

Thus  tempted  with  heard  praises, 
Of  her  arts,  and  skill  in  look, — 

For  you  know  I  love  the  Graces, — 
I  discharged  at  her  a  book  ; 

That  was  penned  by  Mistress  Adams, 
Not  she  for  poor  Adam's  ail, 

The  father  of  all  those  little  dames 
That  have  made  our  race  so  "pale," 

Which,  projected  at  my  lassie, 
The  subject  of  these  verses, 

Came  back  like  coach,  with  glasses, 
Which  follows  solemn  hearses. 

I'm  right  sorry  for  the  authoress, 
I  thought  only  for  her  good, — 

Case  did  not  suit  the  doctoress  ; 
She  needed  better  food. 


A    REFRAIN.  131 

But  spring  came  with  its  verdure, 

With  its  shining  coat  of  green, 
And  Astarte  sent  some  flowers, 

The  rarest  to  be  seen. 

And  the  patient  had  recovered 

From  the  offerings  and  the  book, 
But  relapses  were  discovered, 

And  of  a  serious  turn  partook. 

'Twas  an  admiration  offering  only  ; 

What's  the  harm  in  such  a  thing  ?— 
When  the  subject  is  a  lady, 

And  cat  may  look  at  king. 


"  Drink  water  out  of  your  own  cisterns,  and  running  water  out 
of  your  own  wells." 

"  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  it  shall  return  to  thee 
after  many  days." 


132 


S \veet  flowers  !  so  like  the  smiles  from  heaven, 
To  bright:-!!  :,i.  -.iir  hours  of  toil, 

"iViierefrom  the-  reapers  gather  leaven, 
Resting  whilom  from  mid-day  broil. 

How  well  they  ease  the  burthened  heart, 

Too  often  wet  with  briny  tears. 
Quite  comforting:  where  all  was  smart, 

The  pains  which  blight  and  sorrow  rears. 

How  joyfully  ye  kiss  the  dews 

That  bathe  your  soft  and  lovely  skin. 

While  rainbow  prisms  vie  in  hues, 
To  paint  your  glory,  without  stint. 

Ye  blooming  children  from  the  skies, 
Earth-born,  yet  bursting  out  in  praise  ; 

In  grateful  incense  ye  do  rise, 

To  honor  love,  atd  joy,  and  grace. 

How  gladly,  then,  we  view  these  flowers, 
So  *«ugly  nestled  in  a  vase  of  glass, 

The  fairest  imago  of  the  passing  hours, 
Too  soon  to  break  and  fade  away,  alas! 


COL.    O  'BRIAN; 


OR, 


THE    SOLDIER    OF    FORTUNE 


BY   ONE   WHO    KNEW    HIM. 


O'BRIAN,  of  Irish  descent,  was  a  soldier  cf 
fortune,  who,  during  the  wars  on  the  Spanish 
main,  was  engaged  by  the  South  Americans 
waging  war  against  the  rebels  of  that  country.  Noble, 
generous  and  brave,  with  a  courage  as  indomitable  as  the 
lion,  without  fear  and  without  reproach,  he  endeared  him 
self  to  our  countrymen,  because  he  was  a  patriot  and  a 
true  friend  of  all  inclined  to  universal  liberty. 

He  led  the  armies  of  the  noble  republics  of  that  South 
ern  land  or  continent,  overcame  the  enemies  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  after  a  successful  campaign,  which  ended 
in  putting  all  the  revolutionists  to  flight,  laid  down  his 
arms  to  settle  in  glorious  peace. 


134  COL.    O'BRIAN. 

The  government  would  have  covered  him  with  all  the 
honors  due  to  such  braves,  and  they  did  indeed  invest 
him  with  those  paltr}r  trinkets  of  gilt  medals  and  the 
flaming  insignia  of  titles,  covered  him  with  an  emblazon 
ry  of  gold  lace,  but  could  not  hide  his  merit  or  virtues. 
He  refused  all  compensation  for  his  services,  and  spent 
all  his  patrimony  of  English  gold  freely  as  water  or  his 
own  caprices  suited.  He  was  a  gallant,  bold,  reckless 
and  chivalrous  man.  Like  Don  Quixotte,  he  fought  for 
the  love  of  it.  The  gayest  of  soldiers,  a  true  hearted, 
rollicking,  rioting,  frolicking  Irishman,  and  as  true  to  his 
honor  as  the  dial  to  the  sun. 

I  knew  him  well.  I  loved  his  hearty,  free,  rough-and- 
ready  manner.  There  was  a  sparkle  in  his  eyes,  and  sun 
shine  in  his  laughter.  He  displayed  his  fun  at  all  times, 
and  was  eccentric  as  he  was  bold  and  gifted,  and  he  was 

gay. 

Among  the  prospects,  for  he  was  somewhat  of  a  spec 
ulative  character,  was  his  interests  in  a  valuable  silver 
mine,  hid  in  the  heart  of  the  Andes,  or  it  matters  not 
where — say  some  part  of  Peru.  This  he  offered  to  a 
friend  for  the  privilege  of  working  it,  simply  on  the  con 
dition  that  he  should  pay  all  his  debts,  amounting  to  only 
about  $15,000,  a  mere  trifle  and  a  cheap  bargain  for  a 
mine  which  has  yielded  over  $5,000,000  per  annum. 

The  only  risk  attending  the  purchass  would  be,  per 
haps,  the  loss  of  the  man's  head  who  attempted  to  de 
velop  its  treasures,  and  the  fact  that  there  needed  a  great 
deal  of  pumping  before  the  water  could  be  drawn  out 


COL.    O' BRIAN.  135 

which  had  been  overflowing  the  adits  for  a  number  of 
years  back. 

The  history  of  this  mine  was  rather  singular.  One  Zal- 
manezer,  a  clever  old  Indian,  had  once  been  the  owner  of 
the  property.  It  had  been  a  gift  from  the  empire  for  the 
many  valuable  services  he  had  performed,  but  it  was 
taken  from  him  by  one  of  those  peculiar  coups  d'  etats 
so  common  to  despots,  and  concealed  under  the  name  of 
diplomatic  tact,  which  sometimes  compensates  their  most 
faithful  servants  by  cutting  off  their  heads.  The  influ 
ence  of  this  aborignal  was  so  great  among  his  native  sub 
jects  that  government  became  jealous  of  him,  and  after 
having  first  baited  him  with  the  offer  of  a  fee  simple  of 
this,  his  paramount  estate  of  inheritance,  accused  him 
of  tampering  with  the  privities  of  royalty  and  the  do 
mains,  and  whilst  he  proffered  a  thousand  dollars  per  day 
while  he  waited  his  answer  to  an  appeal  to  the  parent 
government  in  Spain,  they  refused  his  bail,  against  the 
action  of  the  dishonorable  and  treacherous  conduct  on 
their  part  at  home,  and  concluded  that  the  best  mode  of 
getting  rid  of  the  popularity  of  a  subject  was  to  cut  off 
his  head,  and  thus  control  the  entire  right  of  posses 
sion. 

Thus  ever  republics  show  their  ingratitude.  This  is  a 
solemn  proverb  and  a  warning;  and  like  the  farmer  and 
his  goose,  they  killed  the  bird  in  order  to  get  her  eggs. 
To  remedy  the  short-sightedness  exhibited  in  this  picture 
of  ingratitude,  t'~e  companions  of  the  Indian  and  his 
bosom  friends,  grateful  and  reminiscent  of  his  many 


*36  COL.   O1  BRIAN. 

friendly  acts  among  the  neighbors,  very  ingeniously  con 
trived  to  pull  out  the  plugs  that  had  stopped  the  little 
streams  usually  gushing  out  of  the  cavities  in  all  mines 
through  the  crevices  and  obstructing  the  proper  working 
of  the  laborers,  and  thus  letting  in  a  flood  of  water,  burst 
the  sources  of  the  neighboring  lake  and  thereby  destroyed 
the  schemes  of  the  avaricious  governor  of  Peru,  and 
thus  placed  a  barrier  to  all  future  attempts  to  get  this 
silver.  Thus  providence  interrupts  the  course  of  human 
monsters,  and  by  a  certain  retribution  puts  a  stop  to  the 
evil  as  the  beginning  of  complot.  Truly,  "  man  proposes, 
but  God  disposes."  "  Vengeance  is  mine,"  saith  the 
Lord.  The  poor  Indian  has  become  a  constellation  of 
silver— in  Heaven— by  way  of  compensation. 

But  to  return  to  our  friend  the  Colonel.  He  had  va 
rious  talents  beside  those  of  soldiering  and  gallant  offi 
ces.  Not  unskillful  was  he  in  the  magic  art  of  legerde 
main,  and  he  often,  among  his  circle  of  friends  at  the  old 
"  stone  arm  chair,"  where  he  had  built  an  abode,  showed 
them  his  tricks  of  slight  of  hand,  which  he  had  learned 
while  a  youth  at  "  Donnybrook  Fair." 

Here  at  this  altar  of  festive  repose  he  drank  many  a 
bumper,  and  amid  the  sparkle  of  the  wine  and  the  brighter 
flashes  of  his  wit,  our  rollicking,  frolicking  and  happy 
Hibernian  became  green  as  the  lizards  on  the  Old  Erin 
Island  whilst  he  rejoiced  in  his  cups.  This  art  was  learned 
when  he  was  poor,  at  home,  and  he  went  to  the  fair  to 
sharpen  his  wits  for  something  to  spend,  like  Curran,  his 
countryman,  to  whistle  away  the  hunger.  Thus  he  lived 


COL.  O' BRIAN. 


137 


and  after  having  frolicked  and  feasted,  fought  and  played, 
he  returned  to  the  old  country  after  having  fought  an 
arrant  English  officer  who  squinted  too  hard  at  one  of 
his  friend's  sweethearts  on  board  a  man  of  war  in  the 
offing  near  Rio  Janeiro. 

The  last  we  hear  of  him  was  after  his  return  to  Ireland, 
where  he  had  expected  to  end  his  days.  And  in  a  racy 
letter  to  one  of  his  early  friends  on  the  main  he  writes— 
"  We  have  been  up  to  the  Lakes  of  Killarney,  and  it  was 
nothing  but  swimming  and  hunting,  hock  and  cham 
pagne." 


138 

SUMMER  DAYS  AT  STOWE. 
i. 

Come,  comrades,  join  your  voices 

In  song  before  we  go  ; 
The  forest  aisles  will  echoes  ring, 

And  bear  the  strains  below. 
As  over  us  the  moments  pass, 

The  moments  lightly  flow, 
TW11  sing,  with  praise  of  summer  days 

Of  summer  days  in  Stowe. 

n. 

'Neath  the  shadow;  of  the  mountains, 

Where  the  red  man  drew  his  bow, 
"We'll  gather  round  the  social  boai'd, 

And  naught  but  pleasure  know. 
And  when  Avith  reminiscences 

Our  hearts  are  all  aglow, 
We'll  sing,  with  pralsj  of  summer  days. 

Of  summer  days  in  Stowe. 

in. 
Had  this  been  Adam's  Paradise 

Six  thousand  years  ago, 
No  tempter  e'er  had  entered  in 

To  fill  the  world  with  woe. 
Eve  would  have  sung  her  vesper  hymn 

In  cadence  sweet  and  low, 
As  we  sing  now  of  summer  days, 

Of  summer  days  in  Stowe. 

IV. 

Now,  on  the  threshold  of  the  night, 

Sol,  lingering,  bids  us  go, 
And  leave  the  home,  of  fairies  bright 

Unvexed  by  foot  of  foa. 
3ut  let  no  chilling  touch  of  time, 

While  wandering  to  and  fro, 
Banish  the  thought  of  summer  days, 

Of  summer  davs  in  Stowe. 


'39 


THE    TOMB    OF   THE  MARTYRS. 


AT    WALL  A  BOUT. 


What  hallowed  associations  are  connected  with  the 
sound  of  martyrdom  !  The  heart  of  the  patriot,  the  lover 
of  his  country,  the  true  American,  the  honest  man,  and 
the  sincere  Christian,  swells  with  emotions  too  deep  for 
utterance.  Great  thoughts  of  heart  arise  in  the  bosom 
of  all  brave  men,  arid  noble  women  weep  over  the 
memories  of  the  sacred  dead  : 

"  Dulce  et  decore  est  pro  pitria  mori." 

Adjoining  the  United  States  Navy  Yard  in  Brooklyn 
city,  in  Jackson  street,  may  be  seen,  in  a  dilapidate  1 
condition,  the  tomb  of  the  martyrs  who  died  in  dungeons 
and  pestilential  prison-ships,  in  and  about  the  city  ol 
New  York,  during  the  seven  years  of  our  RJ volution ary 
War. 

What  a  disgrace  to  their  living  descendants,  that  the 
only  monument  that  was  ever  erected  to  their  memory 
should  be  suffered  to  remain  in  the  sad  and  sorry  plight 
in  which  it  appears  to-day  ! 

It  is  high  time  that  Brjoklyn  should  wake  up  to  i. 
proper  sense  of  their  negbct  of  these  departed  worthies, 
and  take  the  matter  in  hand,  and  rear  a  monument  in 
some  conspicuous  spot,  worthy  of  themselves,  and  which 
the  children  of  future  generations  might  visit,  in  order  to 
keep  alive  and  fresh  their  pride  and  lunor  for  such 


patriotic  exemplars.  It  would  be  a  grand  idea  to  mingle 
the  bones  of  these  heroes  of  the  Revolution  with  those 
of  the  illustrious  dead  who  have  lately  fought,  bled,  and 
died  in  our  recent  conflict  against  this  last  devilish 
Rebellion.  Where  rests  your  sense  of  shame,  ye  incjr- 
porators  of  Kings  ?  Why  have  these  ashes  of  your 
patriotic  ancestors  to  be  sanctified  only  by  the  colonist,? 
of  New  England  ;  and  why  should  the  sapient  wisdom  of 
New  Connecticut  be  called  upon  alone  to  place  a  statue 
over  the  buried  martyrs  in  their  vault  and  mouldering 
coffins  at  the  purlieus  of  Wallabout  ?  Why  leive  it  to  old 
Benjamin  Romaine  solely,  as  a  monument  to  his  undying 
love  and  patriotism,  and  utter  detestation  of  English 
impudence,  to  devise  his  body  to  the  lot,  in  which  these 
patriots  have  to  inherit  only  their  own  bones,  or  to 
crown  his  pure  devotion  in  a  coronet  of  glory,  which 
only  exhibits  thereon  dark  shadows  in  a  strong  contrast 
to  the  grim  indifference  of  these  Moabites  of  Long 
Island  ?  Let  the  government  lay  hold  of  this  matter,  and 
sink  their  disgrace  in  a  noble  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
these  glorious  ancestors  of  our  Independence  !  If  they  fail 
to  do  their  duty,  let  us  of  Manhattan  shame  our  neighbors 
on  the  other  side  of  the  East  river  into  the  doing  of  the 
correct  thing  in  the  present  necessity.  If  these  fail,  let 
the  spirit  of  the  old  Constitution  itself,  "  that  undying 
and  perpetual  charter  of  human  rights,  and  of  our  duties 
to  God  and  man,"  rise  up  like  the  bones  of  Elisha,  which 
stood  7ip  on  their  feet  at  the  indignant  outrage  of  th-.il, 
band  of  wandering  invaders,  who,  while  casting  only  a 
very  common  man's  corpse  into  the  sepulchre  of  this 
venerable  saint  and  prophet  of  old,  plead  that  the  dry 
V>ones  of  these  modern  vandals  night  shake  in  frightful 


apprehension  of  that,  irrepressible  disgrace  and  con 
tumely  with  which  posterity  will  visit  them  for  their 
shameful  neglect,  and  their  remissful  memories  of  the 
past  heroes  of  the  Revolution,  when  it  comes  their  turn 
to  be  buried  in  vaults,  and  their  ashes  to  be  blown  to 
the  winds  in  a  tempest  of  tornadoos  and  tea-table  talk 
and  reproach.  Verily,  the  ashes  of  those  dead  patriots 
are  the  embryo  of  the  resurrection  of  our  country  ;  and 
we  cannot  better  consecrate  the  ground  where  these 
martyrs  of  the  dust  are  buried  so  well  as  by  raising 
altars  in  the  present  on  which  the  living  may  offer  such 
a  savor  of  sweet  incense  as  shall  yield  that  consolation 
and  comfort  of  holy  sacrifice,  of  thanksgiving,  glory,  and 
praise,  to  heal  the  broken  hearts  of  the  widows  and  the 
orphans,  whose  sorrows  and  wounds  would  be  only 
freshiy  opened,  but  for  the  recollection  that  the  heroes 
of  the  Revolution,  and  the  honorable  dead,  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  which  was  conceived 
for  the  enjoyment  of  a  greater  liberty  for  all  mankind, 
which  shall  survive  the  wreck  of  empire  and  the  fall  ol 
kings,  and  shall  endure  only  so  long  as  we  who  are 
alive  shall  honor  their  memories  within  the  land  which 
the  Lord  our  God  has  given  us:  It  is  but  meet  that  we 
dedicate  a  portion  of  our  soil  as  the  final  resting-place 
of  those  who  gave  their  lives  that  this  nation  might  live 
forever.  " Requiescant  in  pace"  Let  us  fi11  np  the 
measure  of  their  devotion.  Amen. 


142 


IHT 


A  Jady  and  a  lassie  and  a  lad, 

On  a  smiling  July  day, 
Stepped  out  of  the  cars  into  Central  Park, 

There  happily  to  spend  the  day. 

It  was  the  first  time  in  his  life 

That  the  lad  had  seen  the  Ramble, 
For  he  was  led  there  like  a  little  sheep, 

That  had  only  just  learned  to  gambol. 

And  ever  as  from  little  things  a  lesson  we  may  learn, 
And  from  a  small  spark  a  great  big  fire  may  rise, 

So  it  often  seems  that  as  troubled  heart  may  burn, 

Should  mortal  from  sepulchral  earth  be  lifted  to  the  skies. 

Now  we  will  change  the  age  of  him  we  called  the  lad, 
For  men  are  but  children  first,  but  babes  in  later  days, 

And  speaking  boldly  say  'twas  a  young  man,  be  gad  ! 
Who  was  the  first  sad  subject  of  these  sorry  lays. 

It  matters  not  even  if  a  Red  Rose  of  Lancaster 

Went  with  our  ptJ*ty,  she  of  maturer  age, 
As  if  one  Pollox  strayed  away  with  Castor, 

'Twas  all  the  worse  for  this  little  gentle  page. 

Nor  makes  it  better  that  a  white  Rose  of  York, 

So  sweetly  smiled  upon  this  youth  forlorn, 
For  what's  a  srnelling-'bottle  without  its  cork, 

Or  what  avails  a  valley  without  ripened  corn'/ 

Secundo,  we  will  change  the  nature  of  our  metre  — 
The  day  itself  was  changeable,  as  all  fine  weather  is— 

To  ask  the  Muse  to  try  a  new  gasometer, 
To  let  our  gas  off  with  a  double  whiz. 


H3 

On  a  bright  summer  morning  in  the  middle  of  July,  the  day 

As  I  was  passing  o'er  the  road,  'twas  the  20th  of  July. 
The  sun  was  flirting  with  the  clouds  like  hide-and-seek  in  play, 
When  whom  did  I  chance  to  meet  but  the  idol  of  my  eye. 

Twas  very  naughty  of  me,  as  you  may  well  suppose, 
That  such  a  man  of  bnsiness  should  be  stopping  b;  the  way, 

To  cull  a  sweet  white  lily  that  was  nestled  n/>ar  a  Re  i), 

Or  to  spend  an  hour  by  the  fountain  as  it  was  daLying  in  its 
play. 

The  little  golden  diamonds  that  it  scattered  in  the  ligK 
feuread  in  starry  shadows  as  it  sparkled  to  the  sun, 

And  my  happy  thoughts  like  violets  bursting  the  night 
Of  nursing  mother  earth,  so  inspired  me  I  could  not  ran. 

Wekn-ow  the  golden  hours  which  were  running  like  a  stream, 
Though  spent  in  sweet  communion  would  ne'er  return  again 

But  tlr^ountainand  the  flowers  were  weaving  a  sweet  theme, 
Had  been  painted  by  the  angels  on  Nature's  wide  domain. 

It  was  of  a  stolen  flower,  that  was  pitcher-like  in  form, 
As  it  floated  from  its  pendant,  very  like  an  ear-ring, 

That  UL~    yon  Id  have  hardly  thought  of  any  harm, 

Or  that  there  was  aught  of  wrong  in  such  a  little  thing. 

But  there  ever  was  in  stolen  fruit  a  deal  of  mischief  lurking. 
Even  as  where,  in  old  Romaint,  a  maiden  was  stolen  away 
From  her  father's  castellated  halls,   when  gallant  knight  went 

burking 

And  casting  but  a  cloak  around  her,  in  his  bark  sped  through 
the  spray. 

There  never  was  since  time  of  Eve,  when  Adam  wa^  away, 

But  some  de'il  was  there,  to  whisper  slylj  in  the  3ar 
There's  something  good  in  stealing,  not,  but  there's  ;he  iivi1  to 

pay, 

And  no  ha™n  that  any  ill  will  happen  then  to  'Var. 
3 


I44 

Now  what  shall  ba  said  when  in  another  older  saying 
You  read  that  one  cannot  teach  an  old  dog  new  tricks, 

For  even  the  elder  lady  pulled  a  sprig  of  jessamine,  laying 
Not  far  from  where  a  party  sat  on  a  bench  of  rustic  sticks. 

tk'Twas  ever  thus,  from  childhood's  hour, 
I've  seen  my  fondest  hopes  decay  ; 

I  never  loved  a  tree  or  flower, 

But  'twas  the  first  to  fade  away. 

"—To.M  MOOIIB." 

Another  poet,  not  so  well  read  in  verse, 

Doth  now  conclude  this  model  prosaidy 
By,  never  do  write  from  railroad  car,  nor  disperse 

Your  thoughts  from  olfice  calls — even  for  a  lady. 


MORAL. 

Old  Benjamin  Franklin,  so  wise  in  his  days, 

Was  given  to  verses,  but  never  to  lays — 

'Twere  a  pity  the  moderns  don't  mind  what  he  says, 

If  they  did,  'twould  be.  surely  more  to  their  praise. 

Take  care  of  the  shop,  and  the  shop  will  care  for  yon  ; 
Always  button  your  coat,  and  fasten  your  shoes, 
And  then  some  fair  lady  will  seek  for  a  friend 
Who'll  be  true  with  her  lover  to  life's  bitter  end. 


